I was lucky, I had 1 about 12 years ago, 1 artery 95% blocked ,2 others at 60% :o :o
Into the resuscitation theatre at 1am , stent inserted , discharged 3 days later
Never gave heart attacks a thought, I was pretty active, played 18 holes of golf at least once a week, got a fair bit of exercise at work, diet was good :angel: All that didn't matter a damn, apparently I'm prone to having high cholesterol. :'(
While it's too late now for Marshy , please go and get a cholesterol test done, takes about 10 minutes and 100ml's of blood .
IT MIGHT JUST SAVE YOUR LIFE
Like the add says "just do it "
Yep. :)
My calcium score 1.2 and cholesterol has been within the same limits since I was 40. I'm not allowed blood thinners as my arteries and blood flow are to good and I could bleed out. :o Dr said my stats are ridiculous for someone of my age. ;D
Foo
Onya Keefy.... :cup:
My father was on blood pressure and cholesterol meds from the age of 40.
My Lovely made me get a check-over when I turned 40. Guess wot.....
Genetics are pretty hard to get around.
:cheers:
15 years ago for me. 2 stents and a week in the hospital.
Familial hypercholesterolemia I think it is called when you are predisposed genetically for you body not to cope with cholesterol too well. Apparently it is one in every 200 people or so from memory. Could live on nothing but lettuce and still have high cholesterol.
I didn't know of any family history, but learnt later that my grand father on my fathers side died of a hearty at the same age that I was when I had mine.
Well said Xcavator.
My doc has been on the brink of prescribing cholesterol medications for me for a few years. I have been pushing back - waiting for dietary changes to kick in. They haven't !! Anyway he told me to get a calcium score test and if it was low he would get off my back.
Zero - you beauty.
He is still not happy but apparently 6.5 isn't toooooooo bad but at least we now know it isn't doing any damage
YET !!
Quote from: Rowlie on March 04, 2022, 06:13:02 PM
Well said Xcavator.
My doc has been on the brink of prescribing cholesterol medications for me for a few years. I have been pushing back - waiting for dietary changes to kick in. They haven't !! Anyway he told me to get a calcium score test and if it was low he would get off my back.
Zero - you beauty.
He is still not happy but apparently 6.5 isn't toooooooo bad but at least we now know it isn't doing any damage
YET !!
Calcium score in 2009.....585. !! 25% blocked main artery.
25% blocked is not bad.....a lot of older people may have worse, but that's the idea of the post....get checked.
I originally had a CT angiogram...mostly covered by Medicare.....or if you don't feel like investigating, at least do a stress test.
So many blokes I've talked to say whatever happens, happens.....but 99% would change their minds if lying in hospital....if they survived !!
My son died of a heart attack in March 2019, a week shy of his 39th birthday.
His diet wasn't that good, but he wasn't grossly overweight. He liked a beer. I suspect his blood pressure and cholesterol were over the recommended limits but he'd never tell me that.
They say these things can run in families but his grandmother is 97, his grandfather made 80 and I'm coming up 70.
Look after yourselves, and tell your kids they aren't invincible.
RIP Warnie
Quote from: D4D on March 05, 2022, 06:17:22 AM
RIP Warnie
Only 52.......a timely reminder for all.
And don't forget, it's not a male only disease !!
& if you do ever start feeling crook, go to hospital or see a Doctor!!!
FiL had a heart attack quite a few years back, which was then followed a few months later by open-heart surgery. He'd apparently been complaining for a couple of days that he wasn't feeling well, but refused to see anybody as "it'll be OK". Then woke his Mrs in the middle of the night to ask her to drive him down to the hospital. She refused & called an ambulance. He was then lying on a table in theatre hooked up to monitors, when the Doctor said to the other staff "Look at that - that's what a heart attack starting looks like!", & gave him a big dose of something (adrenalin?) which prevented any damage.
He was OK afterwards, but had a Pacemaker for the rest of his life.
What makes the story worse?
He'd been an ambo for 40 years! ::)
And another 1
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-10/victorian-labor-senator-kimberley-kitching-dies/100900882 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-10/victorian-labor-senator-kimberley-kitching-dies/100900882)
And another 1
https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/heart-attack-warning-after-third-public-figure-struck-down-by-health-scare/news-story/17b7eb9b13602ddb66b3ff6b80845e29 (https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/heart-attack-warning-after-third-public-figure-struck-down-by-health-scare/news-story/17b7eb9b13602ddb66b3ff6b80845e29)
Well I had mine at 28, not cholesterol related but a blood clot. Genetics, poor lifestyle and a drinking problem. Lost around 15% of my heart capacity that day, and another 5% a few years later.
Been on the meds ever since and off the bottle as well. Can't say my lifestyle is great but from my yearly chats with the cardiologist I'm doing OK and just hit 45 so can't complain too much.
Lucky I am 53 and am past the high risk age :cheers:
Must say it is really easy to get the necessary checks, I have been doing yearly checks now for around 7years with Cardiologist. Mainly to measure the size of my aorta valve which is slightly enlarged to ensure it is not enlarging further.
Tests range from ECG, Stress tests, echo graph and scan where they inject the dye into the arteries and then scan you.
Better to be informed than be ignorant I say.
A bit of interesting reading
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/most-older-men-would-ignore-chest-pain-while-exercising-study-finds/news-story/7b431846882eb3a494460b905bd35efc (https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/most-older-men-would-ignore-chest-pain-while-exercising-study-finds/news-story/7b431846882eb3a494460b905bd35efc)
And another indestructible 50 y/o in trouble with a heart attack , c'mon people get yourselves tested
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-19/former-australia-odi-wicketkeeper-ryan-campbell-heart-attack/100998956 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-19/former-australia-odi-wicketkeeper-ryan-campbell-heart-attack/100998956)
It's not just cricketers either :'( :'(
https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/west-coast-legend-peter-matera-recovering-in-hospital-after-major-heart-attack/news-story/49f5bde6f7a8fc0f20d0ba4f93b1b48b (https://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/west-coast-legend-peter-matera-recovering-in-hospital-after-major-heart-attack/news-story/49f5bde6f7a8fc0f20d0ba4f93b1b48b)
I have no medical training and have been off crook for several months with an unrelated gut infection and spent a lot of time reading up on diet and health. The modern research-based thinking, believe it or not, on heart attacks seems to be this:
1. Most people who have heart attacks have normal LDL cholesterol. Cholesterol is an important component of our body and our brains are made up of a lot of it. Cholesterol is not a fat; it is a sterol.
2. The incidence of heart attacks is not related to LDL except in people with genetically increased LDL.
3. High LDL cholesterol is only a problem if there are lots of small dense LDL particles called VLDL. The ratio of triglycerides to HDL is a good proxy indication of that and should be less 2 and preferable less than 1.
4. Heart attacks are mostly caused by inflammation in the whole body which causes artery damage around the heart which the body then tries to repair with cholesterol. Calcium is then deposited on the wound as a kind of band aid. Cholesterol gets the blame when it is merely the fireman and not the fire itself.
5. Inflammation in the body is caused by poor diet with lots of sugars and refined carbohydrates which gives rise to insulin resistance and inflammation, causing artery damage and other damage as well. Saturated animal fats do not cause heart damage but seed (vegetable) oils are not recognised by the body as a food and cause damage. These oils were only invented in 1911 and were followed 30 years later by a big deterioration in health.
6. Heart attacks and cancer are pretty much unknown in populations that do not live on the modern western diet. After we were told to reduce fats in the early 1970's, sugar and starch consumption increased and rates of obesity, diabetes and heart problems skyrocketed.
7. For most people, statins cause more harm than good. When I was on them, I had memory loss. The reduction in the absolute risk, as opposed to relative risk, of avoiding a heart attack by taking statins is statistically insignificant compared to the incidence of adverse side effects. Yet doctors are handing out statins like Smarties.
So I've asked my doctor to test for triglycerides, HDL, blood sugar and insulin. My calcium score is 94 which is not too bad for a 72yo. But it should be zero. It's worth doing your own research.
Keith
thanks for reminding me of the importance of this
BTT...
And its not just heart attacks.
The horrible C is something to get off ya arse about.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/bowelbabe-cancer-campaigner-and-columnist-deborah-james-dies-aged-40/news-story/a8ee48119619b843c3479dc9dca02496 (https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/bowelbabe-cancer-campaigner-and-columnist-deborah-james-dies-aged-40/news-story/a8ee48119619b843c3479dc9dca02496)
Quote from: Bird on June 29, 2022, 04:31:24 PM
BTT...
And its not just heart attacks.
The horrible C is something to get off ya arse about.
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/bowelbabe-cancer-campaigner-and-columnist-deborah-james-dies-aged-40/news-story/a8ee48119619b843c3479dc9dca02496 (https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/bowelbabe-cancer-campaigner-and-columnist-deborah-james-dies-aged-40/news-story/a8ee48119619b843c3479dc9dca02496)
And another C....blood cancer....can happen to very young kids and anyone in between. NOT generally related to diet, although pesticides are one "possible" culprit in older people ( ie; farmers )..
Quote from: gronk on June 29, 2022, 06:52:32 PM
And another C....blood cancer....can happen to very young kids and anyone in between. NOT generally related to diet, although pesticides are one "possible" culprit in older people ( ie; farmers )..
And some only show some very innocuous symptoms, my wife's was basically itchy skin for an hour or two after a hot shower, some localised pain high left side abdomen and a blush across nose and cheeks.
Quote from: Pottsy on June 30, 2022, 08:46:40 AM
And some only show some very innocuous symptoms, my wife's was basically itchy skin for an hour or two after a hot shower, some localised pain high left side abdomen and a blush across nose and cheeks.
Know someone who had non Hodgkin's lymphoma ...zero symptoms...an unrelated X-ray picked up some strange masses that needed further looking at.
Quote from: gronk on June 30, 2022, 09:09:10 PM
Know someone who had non Hodgkin's lymphoma ...zero symptoms...an unrelated X-ray picked up some strange masses that needed further looking at.
I often wonder if cancers etc are far more prevalent or not, 100 years ago you wasted away of "consumption" a catch all for many ailments.
Quote from: Pottsy on July 01, 2022, 10:27:46 AM
I often wonder if cancers etc are far more prevalent or not, 100 years ago you wasted away of "consumption" a catch all for many ailments.
Yeh, a lot people still die from ailments because they are too stubborn to go to a doctor.
Some blood cancers can kill within months , some even in weeks. Most very treatable....a lot very curable.
Blood cancer is different to body cancer in that it can be very advanced yet still curable....in most cases.
Body cancer, once advanced is generally not curable.
Quote from: gronk on July 01, 2022, 11:49:02 AM
Yeh, a lot people still die from ailments because they are too stubborn to go to a doctor.
Some blood cancers can kill within months , some even in weeks. Most very treatable....a lot very curable.
Blood cancer is different to body cancer in that it can be very advanced yet still curable....in most cases.
Body cancer, once advanced is generally not curable.
Yep we've been somewhat lucky in that the blood cancer the missus has is rare but it's manageable to a certain extent, it's all the other risk and issues because of it you've got to keep an eye on.
Quote from: Pottsy on July 01, 2022, 12:01:33 PM
Yep we've been somewhat lucky in that the blood cancer the missus has is rare but it's manageable to a certain extent, it's all the other risk and issues because of it you've got to keep an eye on.
What sort has she got ? I had double hit non hodgkins, stage 3 ..
Quote from: gronk on July 01, 2022, 02:10:01 PM
What sort has she got ? I had double hit non hodgkins, stage 3 ..
Polycythemia Vera, it effects the red blood cells, causes them to thicken and damage the bone marrow, enlarged spleen, risks are clots, strokes and heart attacks. Treatment is chemotherapy via tablets everyday, aspirin to prevent clotting, and blood letting when necessary. Blood tests every three months and chemo changes as required.
Quote from: Pottsy on July 01, 2022, 03:38:56 PM
Polycythemia Vera, it effects the red blood cells, causes them to thicken and damage the bone marrow, enlarged spleen, risks are clots, strokes and heart attacks. Treatment is chemotherapy via tablets everyday, aspirin to prevent clotting, and blood letting when necessary. Blood tests every three months and chemo changes as required.
Aahh, hadn't heard of that one.
But the treatments are getting better , and something that was untreatable a year ago could be fine today !!
Same as non hodgkins....the chemo hasn't changed for 20 yrs, but if you had double hit, the prognosis was grim. 4 yrs ago they found a different blend of chemo had great results, and if that doesn't work, there are a few more treatments up their sleeves nowadays.
Quote from: gronk on July 01, 2022, 04:36:14 PM
Aahh, hadn't heard of that one.
But the treatments are getting better , and something that was untreatable a year ago could be fine today !!
Same as non hodgkins....the chemo hasn't changed for 20 yrs, but if you had double hit, the prognosis was grim. 4 yrs ago they found a different blend of chemo had great results, and if that doesn't work, there are a few more treatments up their sleeves nowadays.
There's always something changing, luckily we have a very good team of doctors across her cancer and Parkinson's plus the allied health care people, between physio, speech path, podiatry, and the specialist it keeps us busy. Life can be a challenge sometimes but grandkids and kids keep her spirits up.
I had an operation to remove my Prostate due to cancer and 12 hours later had a heart attack in the hospital bed which caused quiet a stir with the staff. within 30 minuted I had two stents inserted and all good now. But I never previously had a known issue with the heart, yes the op the day before didnt help but it shows that it is important to have regular checks. I asked the Doc what would have happened if I had been on one of my central Australian trips in a remote area and he said I would likely have died.
Get checked even if you dont think you need it
Quote from: areyonga on August 21, 2022, 01:50:06 PM
I had an operation to remove my Prostate due to cancer and 12 hours later had a heart attack in the hospital bed which caused quiet a stir with the staff. within 30 minuted I had two stents inserted and all good now. But I never previously had a known issue with the heart, yes the op the day before didnt help but it shows that it is important to have regular checks. I asked the Doc what would have happened if I had been on one of my central Australian trips in a remote area and he said I would likely have died.
Get checked even if you dont think you need it
Glad to hear your ok... Lucky you were in hospital when it happend.
Well how many of you blokes would be as fit as this bloke ?
GO AND GET YOURSELVES TESTED, not tomorrow, not next week, TODAY.
https://wwos.nine.com.au/tennis/todd-woodbridge-heart-attack-urges-australians-to-get-checked/01bcc0a8-e579-424d-9e73-86ba16aada84 (https://wwos.nine.com.au/tennis/todd-woodbridge-heart-attack-urges-australians-to-get-checked/01bcc0a8-e579-424d-9e73-86ba16aada84)
heard this being advertised on radio today
https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2022/10/11/learn-how-to-save-a-life-with-the-return-of-heart-of-the-nation-on-nine/ (https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2022/10/11/learn-how-to-save-a-life-with-the-return-of-heart-of-the-nation-on-nine/)
The special will air this Saturday, October 15 at 3.00pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Page says:
"As someone who was successfully resuscitated by bystanders who knew what to do, I know the value of everyday people knowing how to do CPR and use an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator).
That's why we want to hold this event to educate and empower more people to step up and save a life."
Hosted by Weekend TODAY's Richard Wilkins together with Page, and featuring 9News Sydney's Emma Lawrence, the 90-minute special marks a unique chance for every Australian to learn or refresh their life-saving CPR skills, while raising awareness of AEDs across the country.
Just because someone looks fit or skinny, it doesn't mean that the internal workings are in good condition and there lies the problem with some people.

Foo
Sent from my CPH1879 using Tapatalk
Quote from: xcvator on October 13, 2022, 03:40:41 PM
Well how many of you blokes would be as fit as this bloke ?
GO AND GET YOURSELVES TESTED, not tomorrow, not next week, TODAY.
https://wwos.nine.com.au/tennis/todd-woodbridge-heart-attack-urges-australians-to-get-checked/01bcc0a8-e579-424d-9e73-86ba16aada84 (https://wwos.nine.com.au/tennis/todd-woodbridge-heart-attack-urges-australians-to-get-checked/01bcc0a8-e579-424d-9e73-86ba16aada84)
Level of fitness reduces your risk, but it doesn't mean you are immune.
This is coming from someone who had two heart attacks before the age of 30. My first was at 28. The chart below pretty much says it all, if you are in your 30's or older you should start getting check ups.
https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2f16bc84-f3e5-492e-be74-7bfef7cebd2a/PHE-229-figure-3_2_2022.png.aspx?width=800&height=595 (https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2f16bc84-f3e5-492e-be74-7bfef7cebd2a/PHE-229-figure-3_2_2022.png.aspx?width=800&height=595)
Another update, please get checked
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-05/heart-attack-death-of-young-man-prompts-calls-for-health-checks/102049060 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-05/heart-attack-death-of-young-man-prompts-calls-for-health-checks/102049060)
Well I went to my regular gp (pretty switched bloke ) about some pain and mentioned that I had a few minor diy spells, only a couple of seconds, when I stood up.Talk about a reaction, within 5 mnutes he had ordered blood test, untrasound checks, referral to a vampire surgeon. !st ultrasound came back with a 50 to 65 % blockages in the carotid arteries , that's on the way to being very ugly.I am booked into see the vampire in 10 days unless the arteries are wose than orginally thought.
Yes I know this thread is about heart attacks , strokes kill nearly as many people, get yourself tested, tell your doc every little thing, these blockages would not have been picked up if I hadn't mentioned the very slight dizzy spells.
GET TESTED FOR POTENTIAL HEART ATTACK AND STROKE
I recently had a calcium score exam, score of 1330..... straight away on statins, aspirin and saw a cardiologist, just waiting for the results of a ct cardio angiogram.... All this because we had a health check prior to a scuba diving course. I'm 64. Also listen to Dr Walker on the radio who saying, over 60, no signs , get a calcium score exam.
Quote from: brianvicki on June 24, 2023, 05:13:41 PM
I recently had a calcium score exam, score of 1330..... straight away on statins, aspirin and saw a cardiologist, just waiting for the results of a ct cardio angiogram.... All this because we had a health check prior to a scuba diving course. I'm 64. Also listen to Dr Walker on the radio who saying, over 60, no signs , get a calcium score exam.
Bloody hell, I was the same age when I had some tests done due to passing out three times after family got me to a lounge chair but my calcium score was 1. :o I'm not allowed to even think about blood thinners for fear of a bleed out. ???
Foo