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Having someone else around to call an ambulance for you when you're having a heart attack can have a large effect on the outcome. Having someone else around to

Having someone else around to call an ambulance for you when you're having a heart attack can have a large effect on the outcome. Having someone else around to nag you into going to the doctor when you otherwise might not go, etc.

newnewpdro 8y ago
Having someone else around who's a negative influence on dietary, entertainment, and general physical activity choices can have a large effect on the probability you'll need an ambulance.
- mreome 8y ago
  Having someone else around who's a positive influence on dietary, entertainment, and general physical activity choices can have a large effect on the probability you'll need an ambulance.
  - newnewpdro 8y ago
    Sure, and the other half of that pair is being harmed by the imbalance. Finding parity is quite difficult, particularly when you already take good care of yourself.
    - mreome 8y ago
      Social interaction and co-habitation is not a zero-sum game. I'm sure we're both working from our own personal experience here, but for me I've always found living with a room-mate or significant other to be a net positive for both parties. It's easier to cook healthy home meals for two then one, both in terms of purchasing/portioning and the ability to split up or alternate the work. It's easier to not skip workouts or social events when you hold each other accountable for them. The mental and emotional stimulation that comes from having someone else to talk to and do things with rather than passively consuming mass media alone. Sure, it's possible for someone with bad personal habits to be a negative influence on someone who struggles to maintain their own good habits, but two people with generally good habits can easily create positive feedback that allows them both to improve.
    - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
      > Finding parity is quite difficult, particularly when you already take good care of yourself. My wife and I have actually driven each other to be better than either of us alone ever were. We're fitter and healthier than we ever were, and it's largely because on nights I don't want to go the gym she does - we act as each-others champions. Also, it's surprising to find out the things you don't about yourself until you see it through another person's eyes.
      - newnewpdro 8y ago
        I hope you appreciate how exceptional a situation that is. Statistically speaking, 75%+ of the adults in the US are overweight. That is the pool being drawn from. So when you're not in the overweight majority, and have no interest in cohabitating with an overweight person who presumably lives a lifestyle contributing to being overweight, you already have just 25% or less of the population to pick from. Now you need to find within that fraction someone you actually like as a person, who doesn't have any of the other unhealthy habits unrelated to being overweight you want nothing to do with.
        SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
        My wife and I both started overweight. I don't know why you think that being with an overweight person will drag you down. Sure, you may gain some initial chub as a lot of people in relationships do, but as the article indicates, the fact that you're not alone is probably going to do more for your life expectancy than those 10 lbs.
        newnewpdro 8y ago
        The article is pseudo-scientific nonsense, it doesn't prove any causal relationships, it's just observing a correlation. There are plenty of obvious reasons people likely to die young would end up alone. It's natural to not be attracted to people likely to die young, it's a behavior our evolution has selected for. We're not attracted to sick-looking people, for example.
- sotojuan 8y ago
  Hopefully you realized that person is a negative influence way before you decided to live with them.
outworlder 8y ago
> Having someone else around to call an ambulance for you when you're having a heart attack can have a large effect on the outcome. So, Apple Watch or similar tech? I expect vitals monitoring to become more commonplace. It doesn't help with your second example, though.
- coldtea 8y ago
  >So, Apple Watch or similar tech? The misery of the one who cares for you at that moment being a smartwatch is enough to cut years off ones life.
  - mirimir 8y ago
    I can imagine a time (not there yet) when -- if lifelike android companions existed, and I had one -- I could forget that it wasn't human. Especially if it nagged me about stuff. More realistically, I can imagine that about a homecare worker.
dr_orpheus 8y ago
> Having someone else around to call an ambulance for you when you're having a heart attack can have a large effect on the outcome. This was my first thought as well when I saw the study. The study doesn't really indicate if deaths are do to this factor or to other longer term factors. I wonder how much of the study (and it might not be much) can be explained by not having someone around to call 911. Or if you are living alone not having something like life alert. Additionally, something like life alert does not always help. Falls is a major issue for older populations, and if you are knocked out because of a fall (or fall because you passed out) having someone to call an ambulance is critical.
agumonkey 8y ago
not fond of this but people were designing smart floor to detect falls and call for help about the latter... I know doctors don't like when people inflates tiny issues but I've seen a few people die because they didn't listen to naggers around them
TopHand 8y ago
Another thought along those lines, is that men tend to try and ignore discomfort. If a man gets a pain in his chest, he is likely to think to himself, "I'll wait and see if it gets worse!" If the same man is living with someone, he might say to them, "I have a slight pain right here!" pointing to his chest. Then that person would begin to pressure him to have it checked.
- Joakal 8y ago
  It's not just pressure but peer support. If you're alone and you got chest pain. You might have anxiety that doctor will say nothing is wrong and that's embarrassing for some.
- ianai 8y ago
  That’s not a male exclusive trait or even generalizable rule. Headache sufferers (often or mostly? women) tend to “wait and see” with their pain, for instance. It’s a character trait and also knowledge based. For headache sufferers, it, for me, is just giving in to the inevitable-it’s fast to exhaust the pain management options. A nurse is in a position to know more about the difference between aches and pains and true emergencies. But even that’s not a rule. My medical family definitely ignored a lot of my health issues growing up because of their backgrounds. My dad heated a scalpel over a flame and dig into my thumb for a splinter when I was 5. (He let it cool, but still.)
- cableshaft 8y ago
  It's even worse when you get chest pain periodically but it's not a heart attack, and gone to the emergency room and paid the money for it multiple times, and they just tell you that you didn't have a heart attack, it's probably something musculoskeletal or heart burn, tell you to go home and take some Prilosec. I went to the ER three times last year because of these pains (and one time several years before that). The last three or four times it happened since then I just stayed at home and tried to relax. But it scares the hell out of me that one of these times it could be more than that, and I'll choose not to go to the ER and that'll be the one that kills me. It wasn't always just chest pain either, I had other symptoms, like a weak left arm, lightheaded, short of breath, pain in other areas of my body as well, heart beating really fast, etc. Common heart attack symptoms, and now I don't know if I should go or not when it happens again. Even my girlfriend is skeptical when I tell her I'm feeling this way now.
craftyguy 8y ago
Having someone else around that is stressful and may cause a heart attack, instigate or help perpetuate bad habits, etc, probably not so helpful.

newnewpdro 8y ago

Having someone else around who's a negative influence on dietary, entertainment, and general physical activity choices can have a large effect on the probability you'll need an ambulance.

mreome 8y ago
Having someone else around who's a positive influence on dietary, entertainment, and general physical activity choices can have a large effect on the probability you'll need an ambulance.
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  Sure, and the other half of that pair is being harmed by the imbalance. Finding parity is quite difficult, particularly when you already take good care of yourself.
  - mreome 8y ago
    Social interaction and co-habitation is not a zero-sum game. I'm sure we're both working from our own personal experience here, but for me I've always found living with a room-mate or significant other to be a net positive for both parties. It's easier to cook healthy home meals for two then one, both in terms of purchasing/portioning and the ability to split up or alternate the work. It's easier to not skip workouts or social events when you hold each other accountable for them. The mental and emotional stimulation that comes from having someone else to talk to and do things with rather than passively consuming mass media alone. Sure, it's possible for someone with bad personal habits to be a negative influence on someone who struggles to maintain their own good habits, but two people with generally good habits can easily create positive feedback that allows them both to improve.
  - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
    > Finding parity is quite difficult, particularly when you already take good care of yourself. My wife and I have actually driven each other to be better than either of us alone ever were. We're fitter and healthier than we ever were, and it's largely because on nights I don't want to go the gym she does - we act as each-others champions. Also, it's surprising to find out the things you don't about yourself until you see it through another person's eyes.
    - newnewpdro 8y ago
      I hope you appreciate how exceptional a situation that is. Statistically speaking, 75%+ of the adults in the US are overweight. That is the pool being drawn from. So when you're not in the overweight majority, and have no interest in cohabitating with an overweight person who presumably lives a lifestyle contributing to being overweight, you already have just 25% or less of the population to pick from. Now you need to find within that fraction someone you actually like as a person, who doesn't have any of the other unhealthy habits unrelated to being overweight you want nothing to do with.
      - SketchySeaBeast 8y ago
        My wife and I both started overweight. I don't know why you think that being with an overweight person will drag you down. Sure, you may gain some initial chub as a lot of people in relationships do, but as the article indicates, the fact that you're not alone is probably going to do more for your life expectancy than those 10 lbs.
        newnewpdro 8y ago
        The article is pseudo-scientific nonsense, it doesn't prove any causal relationships, it's just observing a correlation. There are plenty of obvious reasons people likely to die young would end up alone. It's natural to not be attracted to people likely to die young, it's a behavior our evolution has selected for. We're not attracted to sick-looking people, for example.
sotojuan 8y ago
Hopefully you realized that person is a negative influence way before you decided to live with them.

outworlder 8y ago

> Having someone else around to call an ambulance for you when you're having a heart attack can have a large effect on the outcome. So, Apple Watch or similar tech? I expect vitals monitoring to become more commonplace. It doesn't help with your second example, though.

coldtea 8y ago
>So, Apple Watch or similar tech? The misery of the one who cares for you at that moment being a smartwatch is enough to cut years off ones life.
- mirimir 8y ago
  I can imagine a time (not there yet) when -- if lifelike android companions existed, and I had one -- I could forget that it wasn't human. Especially if it nagged me about stuff. More realistically, I can imagine that about a homecare worker.

dr_orpheus 8y ago

> Having someone else around to call an ambulance for you when you're having a heart attack can have a large effect on the outcome. This was my first thought as well when I saw the study. The study doesn't really indicate if deaths are do to this factor or to other longer term factors. I wonder how much of the study (and it might not be much) can be explained by not having someone around to call 911. Or if you are living alone not having something like life alert. Additionally, something like life alert does not always help. Falls is a major issue for older populations, and if you are knocked out because of a fall (or fall because you passed out) having someone to call an ambulance is critical.

agumonkey 8y ago

not fond of this but people were designing smart floor to detect falls and call for help about the latter... I know doctors don't like when people inflates tiny issues but I've seen a few people die because they didn't listen to naggers around them

TopHand 8y ago

Another thought along those lines, is that men tend to try and ignore discomfort. If a man gets a pain in his chest, he is likely to think to himself, "I'll wait and see if it gets worse!" If the same man is living with someone, he might say to them, "I have a slight pain right here!" pointing to his chest. Then that person would begin to pressure him to have it checked.

Joakal 8y ago
It's not just pressure but peer support. If you're alone and you got chest pain. You might have anxiety that doctor will say nothing is wrong and that's embarrassing for some.
ianai 8y ago
That’s not a male exclusive trait or even generalizable rule. Headache sufferers (often or mostly? women) tend to “wait and see” with their pain, for instance. It’s a character trait and also knowledge based. For headache sufferers, it, for me, is just giving in to the inevitable-it’s fast to exhaust the pain management options. A nurse is in a position to know more about the difference between aches and pains and true emergencies. But even that’s not a rule. My medical family definitely ignored a lot of my health issues growing up because of their backgrounds. My dad heated a scalpel over a flame and dig into my thumb for a splinter when I was 5. (He let it cool, but still.)
cableshaft 8y ago
It's even worse when you get chest pain periodically but it's not a heart attack, and gone to the emergency room and paid the money for it multiple times, and they just tell you that you didn't have a heart attack, it's probably something musculoskeletal or heart burn, tell you to go home and take some Prilosec. I went to the ER three times last year because of these pains (and one time several years before that). The last three or four times it happened since then I just stayed at home and tried to relax. But it scares the hell out of me that one of these times it could be more than that, and I'll choose not to go to the ER and that'll be the one that kills me. It wasn't always just chest pain either, I had other symptoms, like a weak left arm, lightheaded, short of breath, pain in other areas of my body as well, heart beating really fast, etc. Common heart attack symptoms, and now I don't know if I should go or not when it happens again. Even my girlfriend is skeptical when I tell her I'm feeling this way now.

craftyguy 8y ago

Having someone else around that is stressful and may cause a heart attack, instigate or help perpetuate bad habits, etc, probably not so helpful.