HS buddy, age 36, had a heart attack (1 Viewer)

[Jayrod]

Long story short, he's fine and recovering in the hospital now.

Weirdest thing I've heard in a while. He has been bit overweight for the past 15 years, but he was an all-state point guard and played 2 years in college. Also for the last 5 years or so, he has been in to BJJ fighting and joined a local MMA-type club. So he is hardly obese and not totally out of shape and a non-smoker, I'm just not sure how this happens. We graduated together and are only like 5 days apart in age.

Apparently, he went to the ER with chest pains. They wouldn't let him leave and a few hours later they ran some tests and found blockage in basically all of his arteries. The did a quintuple (that's 5) bypass on him. This whole thing is surreal. I'm too young to be having this stuff happen to my peers.

Anyone else know of someone who was reasonably healthy and had major blockage at such a young age? I've never even heard of such a thing.

And just 3 months ago, his wife had a tumor on her brain surgically removed. She graduated with us and is of similar age.

I've never felt so mortal in my life.

You said he has been overweight for 15 years? That doesn't sound like he's that healthy? What would you estimate his weight is?

He's about 5'10"...I'd say around 215-225 range. Noticeable gut, but still able to run around a bit. We played in an alumni basketball game together this Spring. He looked slow and out of shape, but was still able to run around and play.

 

[Drifter]

Did your buddy go to his doctor for an annual physical and got his bloodwork done annually?

Is that recommended at age 36?

Yea I thought bloodwork was like every 3-4 years unless you're having issues.

Bloodwork once a year over 40 is pretty much a must. A lot of people also do bloodwork just for mody-metricking.

For me, I tend to get it a couple times of year. I did well in the genetics pool with low blood pressure and a low to crazy low resting heart rate depending on my exercise (50-60) but got dealt a couple of bad cards in low thyroid hormone production and diabetes running in the family. Combine those two things and you get borderline high blood sugar, high cholesterol and supposedly a high risk for heart attack statistically? The kicker is that nobody really knows which are the actual main causal factors. Does my low blood pressure and heart rate balance out the other statistical red flags?

 

[Tom Servo]

After having open heart surgery at the tender young age of 48, I found out just how important the old ticker is. Mine was a congenital defect that kept getting worse - my aortic valve was not normal. It was allowing blood to flow both ways thru the valve and it was growing shut. It was barely more than 1 square cm before I had the surgery (it's supposed to be 4 sq cm).

So I made some minor changes to my diet and get an echocardiogram yearly.

 

[gameday]

My father and grandfather both died of heart attacks in their mid-late 30s. I'm 36.

I have a hereditary condition called hypercholesterolemia, in which my liver produces cholesterol at an accelerated pace. I've been having my cholesterol tested every 6 months since I was a kid and was on Lipitor for about 3 years in my twenties when I was stupid and wasn't following a decent diet.

that's exactly what I have, too. My total cholesterol was 405 before I started taking meds.

Wow, take care of yourself GB. Mine's never been over 280 or so. Right now its in the low-mid 200s un-medicated. The worst was when my doctor put me on a super high dose of Niacin to try to get my HDL up. Don't know if you ever tried that but it has the WORST side effects ever.

Thanks. Regarding Niacin, I've been taking it since the late 80's. I now take 6 grams/day (2 grams after every meal). That is an incredibly high dose, but it raised my HDL from 29 to about 60, which improved my HDL to LDL ratio from 1:14 to 1:3.

But back to one of the main points of this thread: mortality. After my first MI I thought about it a lot and we made some major life changes (like moving from Chicago back to CA). We put a much bigger emphasis on non-work things. But as the years crept by we fell into the same old pattern. Then, last year after my third MI I started thinking about it again and even started contemplating retirement. We are financially secure so that's not an issue, but I still have boys in middle school and high school. I don't mind my job, and if I wasn't working it's not as if I can just pick up and start jetting around the globe. Having said that, I think I'll walk away from the job in about 15 months.

 

[Drifter]

Are you taking Niacin or Niacinamide? Straight Niacin at that dosage would cause one hell of a blood rush/flush wouldn't it?

 

[gameday]

Are you taking Niacin or Niacinamide? Straight Niacin at that dosage would cause one hell of a blood rush/flush wouldn't it?

straight niacin. It took years to progressively work up to this dosage. I started with 50 mg 3 times day, then 100 mg, and so on. Now I take four 500 mg tablets after each meal. The worst flushing occurs if I take it without a meal, or after a beer.

 

[butcher boy]

I couldn't handle Niacin. The flushing was one thing, but the itching was another. It was unbearable and I couldn't get used to it.

 

[Judge Smails]

I'm a big believer of statins even if you are borderline