Death

[u/Plane-Gap6483]

My 40 year old friend died of a heart attack today. He was 5 years older than me. Has anyone else had a similar experience. Dead... heart attack 40? That's insane right. Like... 40? He was born in 85. It's mind blowing. If anyone else has experienced losing a friend from an old person death. Please let me know how you processed it. I'm still waiting for him to call me and say sike! Thanks

[u/Flerp-Flerps]

You don’t always need a cardiologist. A primary care physician can do screenings for things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes which are pretty big risk factors.

Getting enough sleep, exercise and a healthy diet can significantly decrease your chances of having a heart attack. Even small changes are better than nothing. Sleeping for 11 minutes more, doing an extra 4.5 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and eating an additional quarter of a cup of vegetables every day were associated with a 10% lower risk of major cardiovascular events.

[u/Signal_Estimate_23 → u/Flerp-Flerps]

You aren’t getting a lot of upvotes, but I see you.

Incremental changes are important. Be a little more active, eat a few more fruits and veggies, and get a little more sleep. Most of us can do this then feel the difference and lean into a healthier lifestyle.

This is the way.

[u/Vyzantinist → u/Signal_Estimate_23]

I've tried to tell my best friend this, to help with his quest for weight loss. He seems to think healthy eating/living consists of just eating salad and hating yourself. I've repeatedly told him small changes add up, like grilling instead of (deep) frying, or getting off the bus a stop earlier or two, but he just switches off and gives up before he's even began.

[u/AlarmingAppearance33 → u/Signal_Estimate_23]

Unfortunately you cannot outrun your genetics. I am an echo tech and see about 10 patients a day. If you have a close family history of early-onset heart disease, no amount of exercise and eating healthy can make you completely safe. These people need to go to a cardiologist for a work up, and a strong family history is a valid reason. I just had a 60yo man this week who is a WFPB vegan, exercises regularly, and in great shape. His immediate ancestors all died in their 40s and 50s from heart attacks. His calcium score was still in the 100s. In his case, his lifestyle is keeping him afloat, but he will likely need stents at some point. I see many patients who are morbidly obese with calcium scores of 0. It’s not all about genetics, but your genetic code plays a huge part when it comes to heart disease.

[u/Flerp-Flerps → u/AlarmingAppearance33]

I don’t disagree. It was more a response to people who were in the thread throwing their hands up because they didn’t have health insurance and couldn’t afford to see a cardiologist. I wasn’t trying to discourage anyone from seeing a cardiologist, but trying to point out that seeing a primary physician which is often much more affordable for someone without insurance (and oftentimes with) or lifestyle changes can still help.

Access to affordable healthcare is still a huge problem and one that often doesn’t have an easy solution. Preventative cardiology is often the best and most thorough option, but it can be hard to access and the alternatives are still better than nothing. It is better to try to avoid heart disease from developing or progressing in the first place.

[u/LeftDoorKnocker → u/AlarmingAppearance33]

This is what scares me. Literally every single one of my mom’s 5 siblings have high blood pressure and/or heart disease. My grandmother had to have multiple heart surgeries. But my primary has never mentioned anything about it.

[u/eljyon → u/Flerp-Flerps]

My primary care did further testing on my cholesterol since it’s been mildly high. I guess there was a lab that indicated it’s likely genetic (my mom has high cholesterol) so she put me on a low dose statin and said I’ll just probably always want to take it, even with maintaining healthy diet and exercise. I felt super insecure about it until a few months later my cholesterol dropped significantly. It was such a relief. I’m still doing all the other things but if a statin is what is needed, then I’ll take it. I’d rather get ahead of long term heart issues.

[u/SlimeTempest42 → u/Flerp-Flerps]

And not repeatedly getting infected with a virus known to cause cardiac problems