My annual numbers

Every term in MS 150 Statistics I use a Tanita scale to measure the students weight and to estimate their body fat. The data is primarily used, with names stripped out, as number sets to play with during the term. Secondarily this provides information to a sample at high risk of obesity and associated metabolic syndromes, number two on the planet by one measure. The students become inured to my exhortations to exercise, eat right, and to track their numbers.

Because I get to see the students numbers, I always feel that sharing my numbers is incumbent on me. Although I do try to take a daily pill for my health.

  • Blood pressure 110/70 is down year-on-year.
  • Weight: 144
  • LDL: 86
  • HDL: 41. A tad low. 45 would be better. Fish oil recommended.
  • Cholesterol: 138. A personal best in this century for me. Credit maybe the running, but also maybe the daily glass of red wine since fall 2008. 
  • Sugar: 102. High for me, I usually see numbers in the seventies and eighties.
  • PSA 1.1
  • Uric acid: 7.8. Borderline. 6.9 last year, 7.7 the year before. Less pork. I do not usually eat shrimp, lobster, clams, shellfish, crabs, and other problematic foods. Hydration may be an issue too.
  • ASD: normal
  • ALT: 79: borderline elevated. Possibly related to alcohol intake.
The cholesterol was the number that concerned me. I typically saw numbers in the 160s and 170s through to a 2007 cholesterol of 169. Then in 2008 I hit 219. With more attention to my diet, exercise, and a daily glass of wine or a single beer, that dropped to 178 in 2009. That 2008 spike also saw my LDLs hit144 after a 100 in 2007. 2009 saw that number drop to 118 and now down to 86. My 2008 HDL, however, was good at 57, falling to 41 last year and now holding at 41 - a tad low.

The results are mixed. My fasting blood sugar is high, at least for me, climbing from 85 in 2008 to 97 in 2009 and now 102. An opportunity to follow-up on my blood sugar should occur on 14 November. The uric acid levels are also a concern as they suggest problems downstream with issues such as gout.

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