Meet Otto: 47 year-old German, married, 2 children, CFO of shipping company, Hamburg; Germany
My Profile: I used to work 14 hour a day, travel long distances for my company weekly, feels stressed and anxious. From a lifestyle perspective, I am a rather “binary” person: all-or-nothing! I have always had the energy to work quite hard all my adult life and did not allow my blood pressure to get in the way of my march to success. If I was prescribed a medication, I dutifully took it and they started piling up: statins, Blood Pressure medications, sleepers, antacids and so on, a walking poly-pharmacy!
Until about 3 years ago, heavily invested in this Disease Model (statins, obesity, the "deadly whites" (white bread, white sugar, white rice ...), alcohol, Hypertension, high Clogging (Triglyceride-to-HDL) Ratio, Heartburn, I started feeling really washed up, drained of the vital energy that had been my calling card: “High-Energy Otto”. But without me even noticing it, my arteries had devolved into a “Clogging Dynamic”, despite all my multiple medications. Things were going down the tubes quickly.
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My Wake-Up Call: In fact, I had been “warned” many times by my body that my heart was “under attack”:
My fateful day started just like any other workday. After a series of meetings that continued nearly non-stop until 10 PM, I finally dragged my weary body back to the hotel (They're always so friendly here) for a night-cap and some sleep Picking up the phone, I dialled 15 for the concierge, “Yes, please, a wake up call at 6:30 tomorrow sharp, Thank up.” Ready for another round tomorrow, then home on Wednesday. Exhausted, I fell asleep, comfortably anaesthetised by the alcohol, mulling over the day of work that awaited me.
Awakening several times in the early hours of the morning, I felt a bit of nausea and gnawing pressure in my left arm. The waves of pressure in the chest came and went, increasing in severity and frequency sometimes moving across my chest and up to my jaw. I was still quite lucid and the only memory I had of the ambulance arriving was how sweaty and cold I felt, and how suddenly helpless I had become.
Where were the golden years, the payoff for all the sacrifice: my hobbies, golf, the farm, sailing, and the grandchildren? What meaning does all this have? All of the rhetoric seemed to evaporate in front of me, as I was totally and utterly engaged in one of the biggest battles of my life. I was having a heart attack.
Well, that was 6 years ago and here I am, still kicking, a little older, a little wiser, but still unaware of how to clean my arteries and get back to my highly vital energized self. I was on 4 or 5 medications that were basically keeping me alive but was I actually alive? I had passed through a life-threatening event, but I was back in the game of life? Did I have any “skin in the game” or was I still a hapless victim of my ambition? Doubts abounded.
Then, about 4 months ago, while attending a health module called MSM-24 (My Self Mastery) at INSEAD, we execs were offered a chance to do a health audit: I jumped at the chance. It was the first I had heard of the Vitality Model of health, wherein I had my Health Upgrade determined on the basis of some 30 different tests, mental & physical. Some examples of just how far I had let myself go:
- TG/HDL Ratio Score = 10.5 (optimum < 1!) aka Clogging (Triglyceride-to-HDL) Ratio
- Apnea Score = 25 seconds (I could only hold my breath for 25 seconds!)
- Body Fat = 32 % (no comment(((
My Health Age: came out to be 54.5! Where did those 9 years of my life evaporate to? So, I decided to get on a different track, my mantra became “whatever it takes”.
My Biggest Fear: Being useless and “farmed out” due to poor health &, of course, not seeing my kids grow up!
My Most Important Metric (for NOW): Triglycerides/HDL Ratio (TG/HDL): To see if you are in a Clogging Dynamic, it’s an easy 3-step calculation:
- Latest triglyceride reading here (in grams/litre) : TG = 3.56 grams/litre
- Then, insert your latest HDL reading here (in grams/litre): HDL = 0.38 grams/Litre
- Calculate the ratio (ideal < 1 & > 2, arteries are in Clogging Dynamic): TG/HDL = 10.5!!
My Diagnosis: Coronary Heart Disease (CAD) due to Malnutrition
My (biggest) regret: Not starting my health quest sooner, like 5 years ago!
My Second Chance to Heal from Heart Disease & Malnutrition:
“I knew the strategy: move from a Clogging Dynamic to a Cleaning Dynamic by lowering the Clogging (Triglyceride-to-HDL) Ratio from 10+ to somewhere under 2 or even 1.
What was my winning strategy that added years to my life and life to my years? I'll tell you all about how I did it next installment! Here's a hint: Dum spiro spero!