A mate of mines just text me saying he had a heart attack! I’ve spoken to him and he said he’s doing alright, thing is he’s just 20 years old. My mate was saying how he came back from uni, went into his friends house (where he stays), was going up the stairs when his heart just tightened up, it was really painful and he couldn’t really move. He got to the phone and dialled 999 but couldn’t speak, after a while the police came around (that happens when you dial 999 but don’t say anything) they then called the ambulance. The doctors told him he had a heart attack (level 2???), they said it was because he had a lot of stuff on his mind! The truth is he lives an average life, he’s at uni, he’s got some deadlines coming up, no family problems, they said he should get counselling… wth? He’s not overweight, his fitness level is okay, he’s 20, he eats a lot of junk food like every other student (the docs said it wasn’t because of the junk food) He is feeling fine now though. Any docs in the building?
have any idea what kind of stress a deadline will put on you? my dad died at the age of 36 of a heart attack.
Sorry about your dad. I know the stress deadlines cause, I am overworked and all the rest of it, the last year of my A-Levels completely stressed me out, my mum was in hospital then, I had family problems with deadlines and exams on top, I was being driven into the ground. Now I've known this friend all my life, we are family friends, he is very open with me. I know his family situation, I know about his deadlines, I know his problems, they are nothing special, the usual problems that young people experience. I just find it hard to believe he had a heart attack... its insane. I could never have expected that.
he needs to be seen by a doctor so they can prescribe medication for him to lessen the effcts of his attack.
That's awful. Health is 1/3 lifestyle, 1/3 genetics, and 1/3 mystery. We can only control a third of it, so we'd better do a good job of that to help offset the other two-thirds.
Your friend may have a congenital heart defect (a weak heart from birth). I'm sure the doctors will establish whether this is so. A distant associate of mine also died of one recently. He was 41, fit, and very active. It was completely unexpected. Your friend was one of the lucky ones who survive. Out of 270,000 UK cases a year between a third and two thirds die before reaching hospital. Get to hospital and your survival chances are massively improved (they have life-saving defibs and anti-clotting drugs; you don't) so, if you, or someone you know has chest pains ring an ambulance immediately. Better to be safe than sorry. In a recent UK survey by the British Heart Foundation half of the respondents said that they would ignore early chest pains and wait to see if their condition improved. Big mistake. Ring an ambulance at the first signs and, in the meantime, give them aspirin if you've got them, or if you can get them, as these thin the blood and reduce the risk of clotting. Your friend now has 6 weeks of recovery to look forward to, and a 10% chance of suffering a repeat attack within the next 12 months. The chance decreases by 3% for every year after that (although I'd guess that this doesn't apply in the case of those with congenital defects). There's also a strong chance that a period of depression will ensue, as this is quite common in heart-attack survivors. Some useful links: 'Why I ignored my heart attack': http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6153758.stm?ls 'Gene raises heart attack risk': http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3359359.stm Heart attack recovery: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/heartattackrecovery1.shtml Heart attacks and depression: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/ask_the_doctor/depressionheart.shtml I wish your friend all the best.
Sorry to hear that. Recently, many young people suffer heart attack or even stroke without any reason. Main factor is stress indeed, but many forgot high level of bad cholesterol in our organism. So, Doc's statement is pretty confusing. Truth is that bad cholesterol isn't tightly connected with overweight (even skinny people have higher level of bad Ch), but could be in relation with import of junk food in organism. Bad cholesterol is connected with our genetics and metabolism. For example, greasy fries will just pass trough the organism of one person leaving just a trace on the hips, and for other person those fries could be fatal. I know that because I'm a skinny with some bad cholesterol. Life goes on for your friend. He must decide what he wants to do with that life. He should try with integral food and apple winegar if his cholesterol is high. Other prescriptions I will leave to the real Doc. Cheers.
Thanks for the support guys. Some of that stuff is bloody worrying. I think he once told me how he had a small hole in his heart, this was some years back, I’m not 100% sure though. I seriously hope nothing else happens now. I told him to make an appointment with the doctor, I don't think he's interested though, he said he is feeling tip-top. My elder brother is going to visit him in a bit, will see what happens. Thanks again.
My aorta, where it meets the heart, is slightly inflamed, and has been for years. Someday I suppose it will rupture and then it's good night.
Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Go easy man. I'm sure you're on top of the situation anyway.
Actually I'm a year or so overdue having it checked again...I get kind of lazy. I better go back in sometime soon I suppose.
Ah, well. There would be your friends problem. I doubt very much your friend hasn't experienced instances of cardiac arrhythmia prior to this, more likely (assuming your memory of this disclosure to be correct) as a child it would likely have been a relatively distinct part of the proverbial landscape growing up - hence, possibly, a tendency to want to play things down on his part at present. Glad to hear he's doing well, just don't be too surprised if he displays the tendency to want to blow the whole affair off as something somewhat more trivial than it actually is - likely had a gut full of health issues related to the problem as a kid. Whatever the underlying cause heart attacks do, lamentably, weaken the heart. The good news is there's a lot of latitude regarding the severity of a heart attack and the long terms effects - basically, if he's talking about it, he got off with a warning. The heart really is a most incredibly resilient organ, he's young, he's got otherwise generally good health on his side, he should walk away with nothing more than a bad scare - but of course, on the minus side, it does mean he basically does has something wrong with his heart. Not necessarily a bad thing to have the heads up over in the long run....
My cousin had one at 25, he was lean too, but he's a truckdriver who never sleeps and takes amphetamines all day every day(practically), washing them down with bottles of rum. His fat dad has gotten away with doing the exact same thing for 30 years though.
Heart attack my tight arse, it's a panic attack, happens to all of us. He should take up a hobby and he'll be fine.
Hey ghost Sorry to here about your friend man... Thanks be to God he is ok now.. you are right to advise him to go and see the doc again to make sure its all ok now. this sudden heart attack thing is well scarey just shows how shit can happen in an instant... the amount of crisps and chocolate i eat is incredible.. i have to find a way of slowing down on that stuff... I will have to re-assess my diet in light of this. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ take care zak
