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Just had a heart attack

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Re: Just had a heart attack

#91

Post by pbhjpbhj »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #88

You're quite lucky that you could afford that hospital trip. In the US, it would typically go like "My doctor made some tests and he said that it doesn't look like a heart attack but something is wrong with one of the lines on my ECG. He asked me if its ok to call the ambulance for doing more checks at the hospital. I said no, I can't afford that. So I died four weeks later." This isn't an exaggeration. Many people l…

It's a partial truth though, right? There is a system for emergency healthcare for those without even medical insurance, isn't there?

Also, wouldn't you "just" get treated, rack up a bill and then go to prison for non-payment - guess that might be worse than dying?

Re: Just had a heart attack

#92

Post by knd775 »

robbiep wrote: post #26
coob wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could a smart watch detect a heart attack?

To take an ECG tracing you need at least 3 points of contact with skin around the body (a hospital ECG has 9 leads attached to the body from which the machine calculates 12 waveforms of electrical activity). A watch based mechanism would not have the capacity to do this and even a 3 lead ECG would not be considered sufficient as it would miss too many changes. I therefore believe that a smart watch would not with any…

It would be neat if someday this could be built into clothing. Maybe not for the mainstream, but for people who are at high risk. Just a thought.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#93

Post by noisy_boy »

nostromoa wrote: post #85
robbiep wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doctor here. The 'typical' signs of a heart attack are chest pain usually described as dull, heavy or tight, with radiation to the arm(s) and neck. The patient often also complains of diaphoresis (sweating) , shortness of breath and perhaps weakness. 'Typical' signs do not present in everyone: in particular diabetics are at increased risk of having 'silent' heart attacks, And chest pain that is not typical may also b…

THe only sure fire way to check your heart is to have them pump some fluid in that allows them to see your heart and arteries pumping real time on a screen. A catheter operation in the cath lab. This can be expensive though I have heard there is a good deal in CHicago for a few hundred dollars. The rest, i.e., ECG is not a guarantee of diagnosis, I had several before my infarction as routine check ups and none reveal…

This procedure is called Angiography and I had this done for my dad after he was suffering with lack of stamina and heavy breathing even with mild exertion. The doctors found 5 blockages which wasn't surprising since he used to be a smoker and a foodie. Multiple stents were put (couple of blockages were so bad that the couple of wires used to make way for the stent bent and couldn't penetrate but thankfully they were not in the bigger arteries).

I've resolved to undergo Angiography, symptoms or not, once I turn forty. Angiography is not cheap but it is way more cheaper considering the costs of stents (specifically the ones that dissolve are quite expensive). A day of preparation and an hour of discomfort is nothing at all considering the benefits.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#94

Post by JshWright »

melling wrote: post #82
JshWright wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A heart attack isn't likely to cause an irregular heartbeat (at least not until well after the damage has been done). It's common for heart attacks to cause cardiac conduction anomalies called 'blocks', but these generally don't result in any irregularity of the pulse.

Yeah, I'm simply throwing out a strawman. I have no idea what's possible or important. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man The important idea is that I'm not asking the wearable to tell someone that they're having a heart attack but simply indicate some one "test" is not within range.

Unfortunately, there aren't any tests that could be run at the wrist that would be even remotely specific for an MI.

Really the only thing I can think of is some sort of transcutaneous monitoring of troponin levels in the blood, but that's hard to do (without needles) and a late indicator... troponin levels don't start rising for a few hours after the damage has started.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#95

Post by hueving »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #91
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #88

You're quite lucky that you could afford that hospital trip. In the US, it would typically go like "My doctor made some tests and he said that it doesn't look like a heart attack but something is wrong with one of the lines on my ECG. He asked me if its ok to call the ambulance for doing more checks at the hospital. I said no, I can't afford that. So I died four weeks later." This isn't an exaggeration. Many people l…

It's a partial truth though, right? There is a system for emergency healthcare for those without even medical insurance, isn't there? Also, wouldn't you "just" get treated, rack up a bill and then go to prison for non-payment - guess that might be worse than dying?

>It's a partial truth though, right? There is a system for emergency healthcare for those without even medical insurance, isn't there?

yes

>Also, wouldn't you "just" get treated, rack up a bill and then go to prison for non-payment - guess that might be worse than dying?

yes, but you don't go to prison. the only entity you can go to prison for not paying is the government. instead you will go through bankruptcy, in which all of your assets will be taken and your wages will be garnished for some period of time.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#97

Post by JshWright »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #91
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #88

You're quite lucky that you could afford that hospital trip. In the US, it would typically go like "My doctor made some tests and he said that it doesn't look like a heart attack but something is wrong with one of the lines on my ECG. He asked me if its ok to call the ambulance for doing more checks at the hospital. I said no, I can't afford that. So I died four weeks later." This isn't an exaggeration. Many people l…

It's a partial truth though, right? There is a system for emergency healthcare for those without even medical insurance, isn't there? Also, wouldn't you "just" get treated, rack up a bill and then go to prison for non-payment - guess that might be worse than dying?

You would absolutely be treated. That's a requirement the federal government makes of any hospital that receives medicare/medicaid payment (if you're interested in learning more, google 'EMTALA').

You will also absolutely get a bill, which could be quite large, and could be sent to collections, and could destroy your credit history.

While those last three aren't certain, they're common enough that they should give you pause to think...

Re: Just had a heart attack

#98

Post by schnable »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #91
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #88

You're quite lucky that you could afford that hospital trip. In the US, it would typically go like "My doctor made some tests and he said that it doesn't look like a heart attack but something is wrong with one of the lines on my ECG. He asked me if its ok to call the ambulance for doing more checks at the hospital. I said no, I can't afford that. So I died four weeks later." This isn't an exaggeration. Many people l…

It's a partial truth though, right? There is a system for emergency healthcare for those without even medical insurance, isn't there? Also, wouldn't you "just" get treated, rack up a bill and then go to prison for non-payment - guess that might be worse than dying?

You would go to the hospital, get treated and, if you couldn't pay the bills, declare medical bankruptcy. It sucks, but not it's not people dying in the streets or going to debtor's prison either.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#100

Post by sk5t »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #91
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #88

You're quite lucky that you could afford that hospital trip. In the US, it would typically go like "My doctor made some tests and he said that it doesn't look like a heart attack but something is wrong with one of the lines on my ECG. He asked me if its ok to call the ambulance for doing more checks at the hospital. I said no, I can't afford that. So I died four weeks later." This isn't an exaggeration. Many people l…

It's a partial truth though, right? There is a system for emergency healthcare for those without even medical insurance, isn't there? Also, wouldn't you "just" get treated, rack up a bill and then go to prison for non-payment - guess that might be worse than dying?

The US doesn't have debtor's prison. One would simply have a potentially staggering amount of debt with which to deal.
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