Posted on 04/09/2007 11:55:05 PM PDT by neverdem
Keith Orr thought he would surprise his doctor when he came for a checkup.
His doctor had told him to have a weight-loss operation to reduce the amount of food his stomach could hold, worried because Mr. Orr, at 6 feet 2 inches, weighed 278 pounds. He also had a blood sugar level so high he was on the verge of diabetes and a strong family history of early death from heart attacks. And Mr. Orr, who is 44, had already had a heart attack in 1998 when he was 35.
But Mr. Orr had a secret plan. He had been quietly dieting and exercising for four months and lost 45 pounds. He envisioned himself proudly telling his doctor what he had done, sure his tests would show a huge drop in his blood sugar and cholesterol levels. He planned to confess that he had also stopped taking all of his prescription drugs for heart disease.
After all, he reasoned, with his improved diet and exercise, he no longer needed the drugs. And, anyway, he had never taken his medications regularly, so stopping altogether would not make much difference, he decided.
But the surprise was not what Mr. Orr had anticipated. On Feb. 6, one week before the appointment with his doctor, Mr. Orr was working out at a gym near his home in Boston when he felt a tightness in his chest. It was the start of a massive heart attack, with the sort of blockage in an artery that doctors call the widow-maker.
He survived, miraculously, with little or no damage to his heart. But his story illustrates the reasons that heart disease still kills more Americans than any other disease, as it has for nearly a century.
Medical research has revealed enough about the causes and prevention...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And the moral of the story is, always take the pills the pill-pushers set before you. ;’) Sadly, we are not built to last.
Probably Gall Bladder.
Inspiring! G-d bless you.
How would one rule out such a spasm?
This is the apparent cause of my visit to an emergency room. The pain in my chest was well beyond anything that I had previously experienced. But there was no elevated pulse, as might be expected with a cardiac event.
Is there a way to differentiate the spasm from any other cause?
Remember Jim Fixx died of a heart attack. I think he had 95% blockage. Yes the exercise extended his life but he still needed to see a doctor and wouldn’t.
after many ekgs, treadmill, angiogram, they finally figured out I had two bad discs and two pinched nerves in my neck causing my chest pain, jaw pain, numbness in my left arm. Do not give up too soon.
But
History of acid reflux, heart-burn? Overweight (which sometimes seems to do something to the hiatus) or history of hiatus hernia? Any reason to suspect irritation of the esophagus?
Does it respond to Tums?
What did you eat? For example, minty things or starchy things, like, say, granola, seem sometimes to lead to irritation of the espohagus. Or swallowing a lot of air.
From my point of view I have no history of heart trouble and plenty of history of digestive upset. I just sit up, burp a few times, pop a tums or two, problem goes away. And I can usually tell it's coming nowadays before it gets bad. I had my first one more than 20 years ago and it hurt incredibly, I had to lie down and do breathing exercises, but I just somehow was sure it wasn't a heart attack. I had a few more episodes and finally figured out what it was.
One day I"m going to pop a couple of tums, burp, and die of a heart attack, I guess ....
Well, I certainly hope not.
And I had begun experiencing heartburn with any activity after meals. But I didn't associate the pain I was having with that problem. It was just like a very severe and localized cramp.
Oh, well...an unnecessary visit to an emergency room is actually far preferable to a necessary one. Thanks for the info.
Mad Dawg. Not to make you day worse, but you may be moving toward a damaged esophagus, and that can be devastating.
A friend had it and it convinced me, since I have acid reflux, to go to acid inhibitors and not rely on Tums.
Acid reflux will also cause irritation to the vagus nerve which, if irritated, will mimic a heart attack or trigger spipped beats (PVCs). BTDT. A wise old doctor told me that.
Actually, I lost weight, cleaned up my act, and it hardly ever happens anymore. I mean not for over a year.
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