I implied in the requiescat thread that while I am immensely sad about the passing of FM Steve that the anger and bitter feelings I had after my dad died in a not dissimilar fashion had resurfaced.

My bone to pick:

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the USA, yet mitigating its effects doesn't seem as prominent of a cause for folks as, say, cancer (which is a totally worthwhile cause), nor does it seem to be as high of a priority for our healthcare system.

I do not know FM Steve's medical history and it is completely inappropriate for me to speculate on his situation. However, I do know the following:

- My dad unexpectedly died of a heart attack at 74. After the fact, doctors found that three of his primary heart arteries had significant calcified blockages of at least 95%. He was otherwise healthy and had no apparent signs of this.

- Bob Odenkirk, at 60, nearly died of a heart attack while filming Better Call Saul, also without any apparent previous signs. He had to be revived on set after having no pulse and underwent emergency angioplasty to keep him alive.

- Joe Strummer, at 50, died of a heart attack caused by an undiagnosed heart defect he had since birth.

- Middle-aged and older folks are supposed to get probes stuck up their asses every year to check for colorectal cancer. It's a strongly recommended procedure, covered by insurance.

- Middle-aged and older folks who have breasts are supposed to get their breasts painfully squeezed between two plates to check for breast cancer. It's also a strongly recommended procedure, covered by insurance.

- Unless I've been determined to be predisposed to heart disease, genetically or otherwise, a heart screening is voluntary and not covered by insurance. I asked for a referral, and they wouldn't give me one.

This last fact is why I'm so pissed. Fucking #1 cause of death and we're not covered by insurance to get screened for it annually?

Sorry if this is too soon.

I have been in the resuscitation bay with many a person strapped into a Lucas device, often with their families present. Most of them didn't make it out alive. CPR messes your body up so bad that often the goal is get people to an ICU so they live long enough for family to say goodbye. But they usually don't even make it out of the resuscitation bay. Heart disease is a terrible, terrible thing. And it's insidious. To this day I cringe every time I see an "anxiety attack" on the ambulance board. Yeah, sure, anxiety - are they going to have a pulse when they get here?! Whose family do I have to console today?

I can't even begin to relate all of my experiences with how messed up the health care system is. Especially with all the people that discharge in the afternoon and end up bouncing back to the ED in the early evening and it's so painfully obvious they were never ready to discharge but the hospital wanted the bed. I think of all the people who should be admitted but don't get admitted because the hospital does everything in their power to turn them away if they can keep a bed from getting filled, and they end up worse off as a result. Sure, you could get one day of IV antibiotics and be right as rain, but we'd rather keep the bed, so we'll discharge you with PO antibiotics and you can spend the next several weeks to months hoping your infection gets better. See ya! And we have way more capital and capacity than most hospitals do. I think we probably admit more people than most. I cringe when I think about other hospitals.

But I'll tell ya one thing about America, you might not be able to get the health care you need, but we got a bomb with your name on it, no matter where you are in the known universe. That's better, right?

Right?

Like FM JFV, I lost my dad to heart disease. He passed suddenly at 59 (20 years ago). I would agree that heart disease (still, I believe, the #1 killer) should be better managed.

jfv wrote: Fri May 10, 2024 4:19 pm...

- Unless I've been determined to be predisposed to heart disease, genetically or otherwise, a heart screening is voluntary and not covered by insurance. I asked for a referral, and they wouldn't give me one.

This last fact is why I'm so pissed. Fucking #1 cause of death and we're not covered by insurance to get screened for it annually?

Sorry if this is too soon.

Man, don't take this like I am giving you grief...

You ever meet someone who was a diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic who had an insurance policy that did not cover insulin?

I have.

More times than I wanna remember.

America is "Survival Of The Fittest..." until further notice.

Now, one person's perspective on the specific matter at hand?

The old man's mom? Died of a heart attack at seventy.

The old man's dad? Ditto.

The old man's older brother? Ditto.

While it's going to sound a little cold, I think that some folks have just internalized what might get them in the end and decided to just get on with living.

This is probably a very "care bear" idea to improve the health care system, however useful it can be.
But it still feels like most people in the US are totally fine with dying of heart disease as long as they can go on with the meat industry and their alcohol consumption.
Eating meat, while being highly disrespectful toward animals, is basically the equivalent of eating feces (because it includes them all the time), and this is the main scientific cause why heart disease occurs.
I basically gather that most people in the US are fine as long as they can go on eating meat.
This is very easy to avoid any heart issue by eating vegan and avoiding alcohol, but who cares?
Most people will simply bully individuals telling them to avoid eating animal products.
And, of course, meat industry is basically the same money-oriented crap as major record companies.
I simply think that there is an implicit agreement for people to enjoy meat and alcohol, and that they are fine to die of those diseases, as long as they can enjoy this kind of crap. So why complain?
Most people are probably not so much interested to improve health care system in the end, if you prevent to enjoy this crap and that the "terrible" consequence would be that their health would improve at the end of the day.

numberthirty wrote: Sat May 11, 2024 12:56 am

jfv wrote: Fri May 10, 2024 4:19 pm...

- Unless I've been determined to be predisposed to heart disease, genetically or otherwise, a heart screening is voluntary and not covered by insurance. I asked for a referral, and they wouldn't give me one.

This last fact is why I'm so pissed. Fucking #1 cause of death and we're not covered by insurance to get screened for it annually?

Sorry if this is too soon.

Man, don't take this like I am giving you grief...

You ever meet someone who was a diagnosed insulin dependent diabetic who had an insurance policy that did not cover insulin?

I have.

More times than I wanna remember.

America is "Survival Of The Fittest..." until further notice.

Wasn't intending to have a "who has it worse?" discussion, but regardless, your post is on point. The way insulin-dependent people are treated by the healthcare system in this country is utter bullshit.

Dr. Noémie Nours wrote: Sat May 11, 2024 1:24 am But it still feels like most people in the US are totally fine with dying of heart disease as long as they can go on with the meat industry and their alcohol consumption.

If, starting at 45 years old, we were told by our doctors to get screened annually for heart disease, and those of us who had otherwise been blissfully ignorant of our condition heard from our doctor that "one of your arteries is 70% calcified; if you don't change your ways, you will drop dead of a heart attack soon", I do believe it would have a significant, positive effect.

My healthy, active dad had a heart attack at 75, totally out of nowhere. Quadruple bypass saved him, but otherwise same kind of systemic head scratcher.

I'm still a reluctant patient, even after having to lop a silver dollar sized chunk of skin cancer off my back, but so many recent events are telling me to stop being a weenie and go get all the stuff up my butt, all the blood tests etc. It's hard when you think like your 25 but you're over 40.

Less personally, our country is a laughing stock and the fact that people got so terrified of as tepid a reform as the ACA shows you can't appeal to common sense in a wide swath of the electorate.

jfv wrote: Sat May 11, 2024 12:00 pm If, starting at 45 years old, we were told by our doctors to get screened annually for heart disease, and those of us who had otherwise been blissfully ignorant of our condition heard from our doctor that "one of your arteries is 70% calcified; if you don't change your ways, you will drop dead of a heart attack soon", I do believe it would have a significant, positive effect.

You're probably right, but at the same time it's not like heart disease's status as the top killer is some kind of arcane knowledge. To some degree or other we make our choices to fuck around and potentially find out.

The facility for immediate screening should be available, no question - given Lantern Bioworks and what they've done Re: tooth decay, I wonder if we'll even need screening before too long. Here's hoping.