I am a 66yo non-smoking / non-drinking polynesian male with BP of around 160 / 90 and a pulse of 60. I weigh 90kgs and am 1.7m tall.

I work in a desk job and have a lot of stress.

I swim 1km 4-5 days a week. My diet is fine with an emphasis on low-sugar and low-salt. My cholesterol is around 5.0 but I am prone to low hdl and highish ldl / triglycerides. However, I am no longer in the pre-diabetic range.

I take allopurinol for gout.

Recently I experienced a small number of chest pains. I was given a resting EKG which was ok but I apparently had an inverted P wave. I also had arrhythmic heartbeats.

I then did a treadmill stress test and after 5 minutes my pulse was 160 and my BP was 260 / 40!!!! The test was stopped immediately. Note that my pulse is between 120-140 after 30 minutes of good intensity swimming. I am also recovering from a severe flu.

I have sludgy blood according to a previous doctor. I also recently had all my amalgam filings removed which may have increased the mercury in my body.

My current thinking is to work on exercising my heart through exercise, thinning my blood through curcumin, and controlling my arrhythmia increasing my potassium and magnesium intake.

What can I infer from my pains? Is my heart damaged? Do I have hardening of the arteries? If my approach to resolving this pain worthwhile?

I look forward to your comments.