4 ms·

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

by jjrp 11y ago

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
rosser 11y ago
I'm 43. My father had had his third heart attack by the time he was my age. Shitty diet, smoking during more of his life than not, negligible exercise (despite being an adrenalin junkie), and high-stress work (during my life, he was everything from a paramedic, to an underwater welder, to a corrections officer at a state penitentiary) were doubtless contributing factors. I'm sure genetics played a substantial part, too. Given all that, it's something I've been pretty paranoid about since his death (motorcycle accident). My cardiovascular health, however, seems to be a bullet dodged: my BP is pretty consistently about 110/70, my resting heart rate is in the low 50s, and my 1-minute heart-rate recovery is always at least 40.
- vlasev 11y ago
  Sounds a bit like some shitty genetic defect.
  - neffy 11y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx
mindcrime 11y ago
Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened? I mean, they never really know exactly what causes any particular heart attack. But there are definitely specific risk factors I can single out, and beyond that, I can speculate. For starters, I was a bit overweight, and I am diabetic. Those are both risk factors. But on the flip side, my diabetes is well controlled, and while overweight, I wasn't exactly the stereotypical 400 lb slob that you look at and go "how is that guy still alive?" But while I was pretty active at times during my life (on an "on again, off again" basis), I was one of those people who eats a shitty diet and imagines that he can make up for it by working out more. So even though I wasn't huge outwardly, I'm pretty sure the crap diet, over a period of many years, played a role. But beyond that, I was working crazy hard on this startup, and doing really nutty shit like working 100+ hours a week (between the day job and the startup), not getting enough sleep, and consuming simply ridiculous amounts of caffeine. I'd go to Barnes & Noble or Starbucks to work on the startup after getting off work at my other job, and sit there and drink a triple-shot latte, chase that with a Red Bull, and eat a box or two of chocolate covered espresso beans... 4 or 5 times a week. I've also had some minor, but annoying, knee issues since I was a teenager and I've used a lot of ibuprofen over the years, including taking more than the recommended amount and definitely taking it longer than you're supposed to. Well, guess what? In the last couple of years they've found that sustained use of ibuprofen increases your risk of heart attack. All in all, my personal hunch is that the main things that contributed to it where: 1. my diet, 2. stress, 3. weight, 4. excessive ibuprofen
- IndianAstronaut 11y ago
  Jesus. That sounds like the path I am headed down. Overweight, workaholic, ibuprofen taker.
  - mindcrime 11y ago
    I hear ya. Not to try and be too preachy, but you might want to re-evaluate some things. Or, at the very least, sit down with your doctor and talk about cardiac health and see if you should take a stress test or have some imaging done or something. The good news is, it's almost never too late to improve your cardiac situation. I don't know how old you are, but arterial function can be improved after even a lifetime of bad habits and what-not. Just do all the things we've all been taught to do: eat a healthy diet (the Mediterranean diet is generally considered pretty good), lose weight, stop smoking (if you smoke), watch your cholesterol, stay active, etc.
  - noir_lord 11y ago
    It was me as well, 7 months ago I weighed 245, ate a shocking diet and subsisted on energy drinks and coffee. Last year I got diagnosed with a serious spinal condition and resolved to fix as much as I could. I now weigh 182lbs, lost 12 inches of my waist, don't drink any energy drinks and my coffee addiction is down to <4 a day. I work out for 30-45 minutes everyday without fail mostly bodyweight and callisthenic exercises with swimming a couple of times a week. Blood pressure is normal, resting heart rate dropped by 10 back to 70. The pain from the spine condition has halfed as have the meds I take to stay functional. It's been a hard journey 1500 cal a day for 6 months was brutal but I'm now at maintenance weight and the time would have passed anyway. My advice: if it bothers you, fix it!
qrendel 11y ago
If you think that's bad, I know of two different people offline, one who had a stroke at 27 and the other a heart attack at 34. Don't know either well enough to comment on their lifestyle or contributing factors, though.
- agumonkey 11y ago
  There are many pathways influencing your heart and arteries. Very high stress can trigger-overflow your system with hormones that constrict blood flow to the point of harming itself even if you're quite healthy.

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

by jjrp 11y ago

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

rosser 11y ago

I'm 43. My father had had his third heart attack by the time he was my age. Shitty diet, smoking during more of his life than not, negligible exercise (despite being an adrenalin junkie), and high-stress work (during my life, he was everything from a paramedic, to an underwater welder, to a corrections officer at a state penitentiary) were doubtless contributing factors. I'm sure genetics played a substantial part, too. Given all that, it's something I've been pretty paranoid about since his death (motorcycle accident). My cardiovascular health, however, seems to be a bullet dodged: my BP is pretty consistently about 110/70, my resting heart rate is in the low 50s, and my 1-minute heart-rate recovery is always at least 40.

vlasev 11y ago
Sounds a bit like some shitty genetic defect.
- neffy 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx

mindcrime 11y ago

Holy cow, heart attack at 40? Can you elaborate on how that happened? I mean, they never really know exactly what causes any particular heart attack. But there are definitely specific risk factors I can single out, and beyond that, I can speculate. For starters, I was a bit overweight, and I am diabetic. Those are both risk factors. But on the flip side, my diabetes is well controlled, and while overweight, I wasn't exactly the stereotypical 400 lb slob that you look at and go "how is that guy still alive?" But while I was pretty active at times during my life (on an "on again, off again" basis), I was one of those people who eats a shitty diet and imagines that he can make up for it by working out more. So even though I wasn't huge outwardly, I'm pretty sure the crap diet, over a period of many years, played a role. But beyond that, I was working crazy hard on this startup, and doing really nutty shit like working 100+ hours a week (between the day job and the startup), not getting enough sleep, and consuming simply ridiculous amounts of caffeine. I'd go to Barnes & Noble or Starbucks to work on the startup after getting off work at my other job, and sit there and drink a triple-shot latte, chase that with a Red Bull, and eat a box or two of chocolate covered espresso beans... 4 or 5 times a week. I've also had some minor, but annoying, knee issues since I was a teenager and I've used a lot of ibuprofen over the years, including taking more than the recommended amount and definitely taking it longer than you're supposed to. Well, guess what? In the last couple of years they've found that sustained use of ibuprofen increases your risk of heart attack. All in all, my personal hunch is that the main things that contributed to it where: 1. my diet, 2. stress, 3. weight, 4. excessive ibuprofen

IndianAstronaut 11y ago
Jesus. That sounds like the path I am headed down. Overweight, workaholic, ibuprofen taker.
- mindcrime 11y ago
  I hear ya. Not to try and be too preachy, but you might want to re-evaluate some things. Or, at the very least, sit down with your doctor and talk about cardiac health and see if you should take a stress test or have some imaging done or something. The good news is, it's almost never too late to improve your cardiac situation. I don't know how old you are, but arterial function can be improved after even a lifetime of bad habits and what-not. Just do all the things we've all been taught to do: eat a healthy diet (the Mediterranean diet is generally considered pretty good), lose weight, stop smoking (if you smoke), watch your cholesterol, stay active, etc.
- noir_lord 11y ago
  It was me as well, 7 months ago I weighed 245, ate a shocking diet and subsisted on energy drinks and coffee. Last year I got diagnosed with a serious spinal condition and resolved to fix as much as I could. I now weigh 182lbs, lost 12 inches of my waist, don't drink any energy drinks and my coffee addiction is down to <4 a day. I work out for 30-45 minutes everyday without fail mostly bodyweight and callisthenic exercises with swimming a couple of times a week. Blood pressure is normal, resting heart rate dropped by 10 back to 70. The pain from the spine condition has halfed as have the meds I take to stay functional. It's been a hard journey 1500 cal a day for 6 months was brutal but I'm now at maintenance weight and the time would have passed anyway. My advice: if it bothers you, fix it!

qrendel 11y ago

If you think that's bad, I know of two different people offline, one who had a stroke at 27 and the other a heart attack at 34. Don't know either well enough to comment on their lifestyle or contributing factors, though.

agumonkey 11y ago
There are many pathways influencing your heart and arteries. Very high stress can trigger-overflow your system with hormones that constrict blood flow to the point of harming itself even if you're quite healthy.