[calex59]

They won't schedule a heart cath unless you are experiencing chest pain or shortness of breath, or one of several other symptoms indicating a blockage. They can't just look at someone(unfortunately) and say, "Hey, buddy, you look like you need a heart cath"!

That said, I am sorry for your loss and it is too bad your friend didn't have chest pains or some other symptom that would have led to a heart cath, which would surely have saved his life.

Also, unfortunately, all to many people lie to Doctors when they are asked if they have chest pains or shortness of breath, and a lot of people attribute the shortness of breath to simply getting older and fail to mention it to their docs.

[fellowpatriot]

They won't schedule a heart cath unless you are experiencing chest pain or shortness of breath, or one of several other symptoms indicating a blockage.

Or if you fail a stress test - highly recommended if there is a history of heart disease in your family. This disease is also known as 'the silent killer' because most people either don't have symptoms before the heart attack or they attribute them to other conditions. Pain can occur anywhere in the body, one guy went to a dentist thinking he had a toothache, turned out he was having a heart attack.

[Battle Axe]

There was one day he called and said he was out of breath, but that was a real hot day and I was out of breath too. I told him it was just the weather. He joked, well, you know we are going to be 65 here soon.

He had been stabbed in a robbery while working at South Lake Tahoe. He had lost the feeling and most of the use of his left arm. So if there were any pains he never would have felt them.