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Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

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Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#41

Post by CatDevURandom »

shabda wrote: post #16

I will take this time to write something I wrote on Steve Jobs death: go get a comprehensive health check today. In our community, we are data driven about everything, except our health and body. I will copy what I wrote 1304 days ago, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3080327 In January 2009 I was Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, in July 2009 I had a kidney transplant. Looking back there were so many telltale sign…

My spouse -- an md -- cringed a bit when I read your post. And not because it's not well meaning, or important, but because without qualifying what "comprehensive health check" means, that check could very well do you more harm than good.

So, yes. Please find a good primary care physician you trust and visit on an annual basis. Make sure you update that phsyician with what's going on in your life. That includes any family history, pain, issues etc. When in doubt, see another physician. But please don't go out and get a full MRI of your body just because (which, you are not saying, but does happen). There are enough VOMITs[0] in the course of normal defensive medicine. Don't go looking for problems because -- although they'll definitely help you look -- you might not be better off for it.

[0]: http://messybeast.com/dragonqueen/medical-acronyms.htm

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#42

Post by shabda »

walterbell wrote: post #31
shabda wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are feel good exercises, until they aren't ... Don't think of all OK result as money wasted, its insurance to catch any chronic illness in time. I would consider tests comprehensive if tests all major internal organs (kidney, liver, heart, spleen + common cancers depending on gender/age), you can come up with one after talking to a physician. Because I am based in India, I can only recommend India specific one,…

Thanks for the pointer. How much does a comprehensive test cost in India and are the test records given to the patient? I've wondered whether traditional Ayurveda and modern medicine are complementary.

It costs about $200 and the test results are given to the people. Modern medicine is pretty reasonably priced in India.

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#43

Post by kgwgk »

izacus wrote: post #38
kgwgk wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you haven't had a health check, get it done today. Or you might want to postpone your visit to the doctor until you have an actual reason to go there: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/opinion/skip-your-annual-p... http://kaiserhealthnews.org/news/ritual-not-science-keeps-th...

How does that help you test for early stage cancer markers? That tests usually isn't in the batch of regular (and it's quite expensive), but it does make a difference between death an survival.

And how does testing for early stage cancer markers help you? It's not a rhetorical question, clinical studies have been unable to show the positive effect that you assume (and actually these tests may do more harm than good).

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#44

Post by shabda »

brador wrote: post #35
shabda wrote: post #16

I will take this time to write something I wrote on Steve Jobs death: go get a comprehensive health check today. In our community, we are data driven about everything, except our health and body. I will copy what I wrote 1304 days ago, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3080327 In January 2009 I was Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, in July 2009 I had a kidney transplant. Looking back there were so many telltale sign…

What were the telltale signs?

I wouldn't like to go in the details now, but it was subset of this: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/kidney-disease...

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#45

Post by azakai »

izacus wrote: post #38
kgwgk wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you haven't had a health check, get it done today. Or you might want to postpone your visit to the doctor until you have an actual reason to go there: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/opinion/skip-your-annual-p... http://kaiserhealthnews.org/news/ritual-not-science-keeps-th...

How does that help you test for early stage cancer markers? That tests usually isn't in the batch of regular (and it's quite expensive), but it does make a difference between death an survival.

The general issue is that doing more tests can catch more things earlier. But all tests have false positives, and false positives can lead to more tests and in some cases to unneeded treatment, which can cause more harm than good.

It's perhaps unintuitive, but more testing isn't always good. The benefits need to outweigh the risks, and it isn't always the case. There are ongoing debates about who should be screened for various types of cancer, for example, and the "right" answer changes over time - as we find ways to reduce false positives, as we find better treatments, as we better understand the diseases, etc.

It's tempting to do more tests because it feels like you're doing something. You don't want to get sick later and feel like you could have prevented that. But that's an irrational form of thinking. All that we can do is make the best choice now, given our current information. As GP's links mention, the best choice we have now often seems like "avoid tests that aren't clearly needed."

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#46

Post by imjk »

shabda wrote: post #16

I will take this time to write something I wrote on Steve Jobs death: go get a comprehensive health check today. In our community, we are data driven about everything, except our health and body. I will copy what I wrote 1304 days ago, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3080327 In January 2009 I was Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, in July 2009 I had a kidney transplant. Looking back there were so many telltale sign…

He's not the most popular guys around here, but Mark Cuban shares a similar sentiment about quarterly blood tests: http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cubans-on-blood-tests-an...

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#47

Post by shabda »

throwaway9324 wrote: post #34
shabda wrote: post #16

I will take this time to write something I wrote on Steve Jobs death: go get a comprehensive health check today. In our community, we are data driven about everything, except our health and body. I will copy what I wrote 1304 days ago, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3080327 In January 2009 I was Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, in July 2009 I had a kidney transplant. Looking back there were so many telltale sign…

I fail to see how screening of healthy, relatively young, people would be "data driven".

Most of chronic diseases progress slowly and have no external signs in early stages. Most of them are also much simpler to treat in early stages.

> I fail to see how screening of healthy, relatively young, people would be "data driven".

So just by looking at yourself, you don't know if you are healthy, only that you look healthy. The tests are to ensure that you are, and to give you time and flexibility of treatment if you are not.

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#48

Post by dandrews »

izacus wrote: post #38
kgwgk wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you haven't had a health check, get it done today. Or you might want to postpone your visit to the doctor until you have an actual reason to go there: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/opinion/skip-your-annual-p... http://kaiserhealthnews.org/news/ritual-not-science-keeps-th...

How does that help you test for early stage cancer markers? That tests usually isn't in the batch of regular (and it's quite expensive), but it does make a difference between death an survival.

Yeah, pancreatic cancer patient here. Mine presented as acid reflux, which my GP treated with Prilosec. Only after I went anemic and the ER staff scanned for a bleeder did they find the 8-9 cm tumor. Push your GP if necessary for some soft-tissue radiology if you feel "not right". Wish I'd caught mine a couple months earlier.

(Six months after surgery - I'm well so far, still doing chemo for the next three months. We'll see, we'll see.)

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#49

Post by papasmrf »

Of course we dont know why he died but I echo the sentiment that you need to be getting annual physicals and blood work to catch potential issues sooner rather than later.

A few years ago a nurse told me my blood pressure was a bit high but I didnt think it was that high to worry about so I never followed up on it. Then a few months ago I went for a dental check up where they checked my blood pressure and after a particularly chaotic morning the nurse told me my blood pressure was 220 over 150, which is crazy high blood pressure The dentist ended the appointment and told me very strongly to go straight to the doctor. When I got there my pressure had gone down to 150 / 90, but the doctor started me on a low dose of blood pressure medicine. It costs $5.00 per month, and who knows what health disaster was awaiting me had I not discovered this.

Even if you are relatively normal weight, in your 20s, and healthy, you could still have issues and not realize it until you have a check up.

Re: Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has died

#50

Post by chime »

testingonprod wrote: post #2

It is at these times we must confront our own mortality.

My thought are with Dave's family. It's a morbid coincidence that I was sitting here, filling out my will using http://getyourshittogether.org/ when I came across this HN post. I had been avoiding filling it out for months because it never felt important enough to do. Finally last night I decided that I was going to fill it all out today. Just as I started to fill it out, I thought "Oh let me just check HN and reddit once." Then I saw this post and your comment.

After I hit reply here, I'm going to finish the entire document before I come back here. I have too many loved ones to leave stranded in this world after me just because I was too lazy and distracted to do what's needed.

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