Heart attack?

[eddielasvegas]

Excellent thread OP and thank you for starting it.

Given my age (mid 60's) I need to look into the test mentioned above. It's called a heart plaque score cscan, I think, and I have never heard of it, but I'm contacting my Dr. within the week.


Eddie

 

[PNW bow hunter]

This is my buddies “heart attack” bull

I can’t describe the emotions we felt after he shot the bull, and finally got it packed to the truck. We both had our concerns this might not be a possibility moving forward after his heart attack.

It felt like a huge victory to accomplish that months later.

Good luck to you

 

[triglet40]

Low dose chest cat scan. Our hospital does them at reduced pricing for people during the month of february. In conjunction with american heart month. It’s a great quick screening tool and isn’t terribly expensive.

 

[yfarm]

The heart scan looks for calcium deposits in the arteries of the heart, so called hard plaque. Most people over 60 have it so the test is best used in younger people, generally 50-60. The amount is calculated and the higher the score the more likely there is significant narrowing of the artery. As the score rises then additional testing is done stress echo, nuclear imaging, CTA and cardiac cath. If the scan is negative it means you have no or little hard plaque but can have significant soft plaque which is non calcified and is just as dangerous. To see that you have to do a CTA or a cardiac cath. The treadmill test, stress echo and nuclear imaging detects alterations in physiology caused by the plaque ie reduced blood flow through the narrowing.

 

[TheGDog]

I get annual complete phyicals, and the last two years I had occasion to undergo more extensive medical exams. Last April I had hip replacement surgery, well, not 36 hours after being released from hospital I was back in ER because I passed out. When they ran blood work they asked if I had any chest pain, to which I said nothing. Dr. told me I had elevated Troponin level and that may indicate heart attack so they admitted me. I underwent every test there is to monitor heart. Because I was three days out from hip replacement the treadmill test was out so I had and induced stress test. Bottom line, there was nothing wrong with my heart. The cardiologist told me, if you have a heart attack you will have high troponin levels, but not all high levels are because of an attack. When ever your body is under stress the level may be elevated. Mine were elevated because of the stress on my body because of the surgery. But they had to eliminate any possible heart problem before they could clear me. The other time, I was sure I was having a heart attack, and was admitted and also underwent every test there was. My symptom were classic heart attack symptom, chest pain, tightness in my jaw, pain in my left arm and back, and sweating. After all the test and three days in hospital it was determined the symptoms were caused by restriction in my esophagus, which mimic a heart attack. They preform a procedure to stretch my esophagus ( while I was under ) and that took care of the problem. Bottom line guys, give up the macho man crap and get complete annual physical. I am 73 and want to see my grand kids for many more years, and enjoy more years with my wife of 46 years. Speaking of surgery, I'm having left knee replace Feb. 9th. I hope I don't have same issue I had with hip replacement, passing out and ending up back in hospital to undergo all the same heart monitoring test.

And the reason why... is so you don't have a heart-attack on them while under the knife, like our Friend Kul did whebn he went in for knee replacement surgery. And they had to just leave his damn knee open! Ended up with all this necrotic tissue, and I called it, they had to do grafting from his ass and inner thigh, once his heart issue was better enough they could risk putting him under again. AND... his Grand Kid got born in the middle of all that! I made sure to tie that in when I'd have conversations with him so it'd tie into his motivation/inspiration to follow thru on doing what the Docs tell him to do since he's got a great reason to stick around, that GrandKid!

It really was heinous man, so yeah, don't get perturbed with them being cautious and checking for stress test BEFORE the surgery!!! Not a bad idea!

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

So you’re saying the spike in heart related issues is higher in unvaccinated people or people that had covid? That’s some statistical manipulation and does not separate the groups vaccinated vs unvaccinated. At this point almost everyone has had some version of Covid and yes there all kinds of long term side effects of it. I personally know 3 people that were diagnosed with miocarditus (spelling error probably) as a direct side effect of getting the mRNA vax.

Here is the link to the cdc article.

Myocarditis and Pericarditis After mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination

Learn about myocarditis and pericarditis after COVID-19 vaccination. CDC still recommends that everyone aged 5 years and older get vaccinated. (142)

www.cdc.gov

Currently they are monitoring but other countries are further ahead in the studies and the results are terrifying. I will try to track those articles down.

Referring to an article I read is all…

Results: We identified 22 eligible studies consisting of 55.5 million vaccinated cohorts and 2.5 million in the infection cohort. The median age was 49 years (interquartile range (IQR): 38–56), and 49% (IQR: 43 to 52%) were men. Of patients diagnosed with myocarditis (in both vaccination and COVID-19 cohort) 1.07% were hospitalized and 0.015% died. The relative risk (RR) for myocarditis was more than seven times higher in the infection group than in the vaccination group [RR: 15 (95% CI: 11.09–19.81, infection group] and RR: 2 (95% CI: 1.44-2.65, vaccine group). Of patients who developed myocarditis after receiving the vaccine or having the infection, 61% (IQR: 39–87%) were men. Meta-regression analysis indicated that men and younger populations had a higher risk of myocarditis. A slow decline in the rates of myocarditis was observed as a function of time from vaccination. The risk of bias was low.

Conclusion: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we found that the risk of myocarditis is more than seven fold higher in persons who were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 than in those who received the vaccine. These findings support the continued use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines among all eligible persons per CDC and WHO recommendations.

 

[Tod osier]

Yeah, and mine was only $250, happily paid out of pocket.

Cardiac calcium - was $99 for me out of pocket. Wish I had done one at 40, rather than 50. Super easy and fast, the least invasive test you can get. I'd recommend for anyone with family history or slightly higher cholesterol.

 

[Boarmaster]

I had 80% blockage in the widow maker. Got a stent. Got it two years ago. I dont stress about it but respect the seriousness of it. I dont hunt alone if I can help it. On my way out to my hunting lease in AL right now. I’m not a wilderness hunter. I didn't stop hunting but I am more careful. I don't want to end up dead in the woods or even worse I don't want my hunting buddies to deal with me having a problem out there. Hardest thing was understanding and coming to terms i might have to ask for help once in a while. I here for 10 days chasing my third buck and sixth deer for the season. I want to be able to enjoy this for a long time.

 

[timekiller13]

To the OP glad you are doing OK. Life changing event for sure.

I’ve worked in emergency medicine for nearly a decade now. I’ve lost count on the number of fit, seemingly healthy people I’ve seen have major heart attacks.

Genetics, diet, lifestyle all play a role. Lifestyle and diet you can control. Genetics you can’t.

 

[Dsnow9]

Referring to an article I read is all…

Results: We identified 22 eligible studies consisting of 55.5 million vaccinated cohorts and 2.5 million in the infection cohort. The median age was 49 years (interquartile range (IQR): 38–56), and 49% (IQR: 43 to 52%) were men. Of patients diagnosed with myocarditis (in both vaccination and COVID-19 cohort) 1.07% were hospitalized and 0.015% died. The relative risk (RR) for myocarditis was more than seven times higher in the infection group than in the vaccination group [RR: 15 (95% CI: 11.09–19.81, infection group] and RR: 2 (95% CI: 1.44-2.65, vaccine group). Of patients who developed myocarditis after receiving the vaccine or having the infection, 61% (IQR: 39–87%) were men. Meta-regression analysis indicated that men and younger populations had a higher risk of myocarditis. A slow decline in the rates of myocarditis was observed as a function of time from vaccination. The risk of bias was low.

Conclusion: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we found that the risk of myocarditis is more than seven fold higher in persons who were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 than in those who received the vaccine. These findings support the continued use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines among all eligible persons per CDC and WHO recommendations.

Thanks for posting. And from my reading it says nothing about unvaccinated vs vaccinated. Only people who were infected with Covid. Therefore there is no way to distinguish the difference. From my reading it is a spike protein issue. You can get the spike protein from the vax or Covid. The people that have had multiple jabs and had Covid would therefore have higher amounts of spike protein. This is why I believe the heart issues are more prevalent now. As people get more and more boosters the issues are starting to be more prevalent. I’m not posting these things to be a jerk or discount people that have had heart attacks. All this stuff really sucks. Simply saying that it is worth looking into and having those conversations with doctors as well as determining wether getting more boosters is worth it or not. That is a personal decision that everyone has to make.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Covid itself or Covid vax… It’s a long termpotential side effect of the virus itself (natural or vaccine version). Covid itself (non vax version) had a higher rate of heart related issues than the vaccine just fyi.

smart

 

[Mule3006Elk]

At age 33 I heard a talk on longevity from a cardiologist from Wash U. Most important predictor of life length was genetics, 2nd was 81 mg of Aspirin daily. Started on it the next day, am now 69 1/2. Ran 7 min mile for 3 miles a day for 30 yrs. When I was in my mid 50s we got a new fast CT scanner and to test the scan protocols I had a coronary CTA, showed totally clean coronary arteries after a life eating whatever I wanted. Havent had my cholesterol checked in 25 yrs. Are my clean vessels from genetics, aspirin or running? Who knows. Lots we dont know. I do think there is an argument for doing screening cornary CTA in asymptomatic high risk individuals. CTA Computed Tomographic Angiography.

Clearly genetics.

Plaque accumulation is not directly correlated to asa intake. ASA helps with part of the acute MI pathway. Specifically, thrombosis.

I have a strong family history of CAD. I take asa 81 mg 4x per week.

 

[AKG]

vertigo can be caused by the cystals in the inner becoming dislodge and takes a few days to get the balance back.
I missed work once due to it and couple of other times worked thru it but running heavy equipment I shouldn’t have.

Funny you mention that, my mom had severe vertigo over the holidays. She was diagnosed with an ear infection, antibiotics took care of that but she still had the vertigo, her doctor told her about the ear crystals. Her chiropractor knew the procedure to manipulate her head to get them floated back into place. One session with him and the vertigo went away.

 

[rtaylor]

My father in law had a heart attack at age 52. Healthy and active. Ended up getting a stint and was actually more active after that because he felt better. I wouldn't let a stint and blood thinners affect backwoods hardcore hunting. Keep a phone or sat phone on you in case you get in trouble but we should all do that anyways whether we've had a heart attack or not.

 

[DangerRanger]

My father had a 98% blockage of his LAD, known widely as a “widowmaker” in 2014. The doc let me see the images, holy snot. 30% heart function after that he rehabbed to 55+%

He has done 3 elk trips to 9k feet since then.

Clocks a ticking for all of us, but don’t let it prevent you from living

 

[Marbles]

Any of you on here had a heart attack? I got a scare last weekend or had a blocked artery, Was heading out snow shoeing when the check engine light came on. Was in denial since I am still fairly young, eat healthy, and exercise regularly.

I have stints in and no damage to my heart but wondering what heading into the wilderness will look like. Thanks

For most people, it doesn't look any different other than adding a few meds every day. Some of it will depend on how the cath looked, was there something that could not be stented, Etc. Generally, I tell patients activity is far more valuable to health than anything elso, so don't restrict it, but if you get to using the third nitro head to the ED. Obviously I don't have your records to review, so you should confirm that with your cardiologist.

If you have any specific questions on why certain medications are prescribed, PM me. Again, it is just a general discussion as I don't know your case, but there is lots of old and incorrect information that gets thrown around on some very good medications.

 

[CorbLand]

My family all gets rocked in their late 30s to early 40s with heart attacks. It’s a coin flip if it will kill you or not. I wouldn’t say my family is overly healthy but we are all active. The weird thing is that nobody has had the same type of heart attack.

 

[tuffcity]

Had one in 2019, a week before I was supposed to be sheep hunting. 57 years old and had just finished changing the tires on my truck. I thought I had pulled something in my left shoulder/chest area except it kept getting more painful. We're about 20 miles out of town so wife calls 911 and says get in the truck and we met the ambulance about 2/3's of the way in to town. Medevac'ed out the next day and ended up with a stent in one of the 3 bigger arteries that come off the main.

Year later the cardiologist said no damage and I'm G2G . Sept of 2021 I'm packing my daughter's ram off the mountain... my heart attack redemption hunt.

It's not keeping me out of the high lonesome places but now I throw a nitro spray in my pack for a bit of peace of mind.

I had 3-4 years of a very high stress load prior to that episode and that was what the doc attributed the attack to. I've since calmed the f&*% down and am planning on retiring this year, just so it doesn't catch up with me again. lol

 

[D S 319]

At age 33 I heard a talk on longevity from a cardiologist from Wash U. Most important predictor of life length was genetics, 2nd was 81 mg of Aspirin daily. Started on it the next day, am now 69 1/2. Ran 7 min mile for 3 miles a day for 30 yrs. When I was in my mid 50s we got a new fast CT scanner and to test the scan protocols I had a coronary CTA, showed totally clean coronary arteries after a life eating whatever I wanted. Havent had my cholesterol checked in 25 yrs. Are my clean vessels from genetics, aspirin or running? Who knows. Lots we dont know. I do think there is an argument for doing screening cornary CTA in asymptomatic high risk individuals. CTA Computed Tomographic Angiography.

Genetics and healthy life style benefited you more than that aspirin that potentially puts you at greater risks.

PURLs: Rethinking daily aspirin for primary prevention - PMC

An updated meta-analysis of newer RCTs seems to settle the matter as to whether to use aspirin in individuals with no known history of atherosclerotic CVD.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[49ereric]

I had 80% blockage in the widow maker. Got a stent. Got it two years ago. I dont stress about it but respect the seriousness of it. I dont hunt alone if I can help it. On my way out to my hunting lease in AL right now. I’m not a wilderness hunter. I didn't stop hunting but I am more careful. I don't want to end up dead in the woods or even worse I don't want my hunting buddies to deal with me having a problem out there. Hardest thing was understanding and coming to terms i might have to ask for help once in a while. I here for 10 days chasing my third buck and sixth deer for the season. I want to be able to enjoy this for a long time.

passing away in the woods doing what we enjoy is better than dying in bed.
as for others involved after the fact they’d know you died doing what you enjoy and call you lucky.
We all just need to pay attention to vast amount of warning signs and not be bull headed enough to ignore the signs.