121–130 of 211 posts
Does hacker news still do the black bar to honor people in the community who have passed away?
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So you're saying executive physicals like this [1] are bad? Personally, I'd like to know if I'm dying. Many cancers and other serious problems betray few if any symptoms before it's too late to treat them. [1] https://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/ehw/services/Pages/gold....
Depends on your situation, but yes... they can be bad. First of all, false positive tests are a thing. It happens. More importantly, let's say you are diagnosed with something untreatable and terminal. Do you really want to know before you have to? Or perhaps it's something technically treatable, but with a low chance of cure and at a high cost to quality of life? The thing to think about when you test for something,…
As one example of many, consider prostate cancer screening: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/811846
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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 f…
I went to the urgent care when I had what I thought was hemmoroids - the urgen care doctor hadn't seen anything quick like what she saw and sent me for a colonoscopy. Normally "they" recommend starting periodic colonoscopies at 50. When the procedure was finished, I was told they would analyze the result, but I had a cancerous tumor and they sent me for a CT scan which confirmed stage iv colon cancer with liver metas…
Basically, radiologists are more afraid of being sued for missing something then they are of being sued for being too cautious. Evasive language is a defence against the latter.
This is a uniquely American condition BTW. Most other places, the liability rules are different and doctors aren't as afraid of lawsuits / insurance premium hikes.
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When I started to see similar things happen to friends or acquaintances when I was about the same age every time I heard of someone getting sick or dying prematurely I would say to myself "time to buy that Porsche you always wanted". So I did. My parents generation worked hard but never spent any money always assuming they would live to a ripe old age.
You can do so much better than buying an expensive toy. Why bother working so hard to blow it on something silly?
One mans expensive toy is anothers childhood dream or self promised reward for decades of hard work.
And who knows, it may turn out to be a good investment in the longer term, Porsches and Ferraris have a way of keeping their value (provided you don't drive them too much or wrap them around a tree).
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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).
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why is it shitty? I didn't take it as him implying that's how the CEO died, just that it's an issue that happens a lot in silicon valley and it's dangerous because you can die unexpectedly due to a heart attack.
Worst case, he's implying that illegal drug use is a factor in the death of somebody known to people here. Best case, he's bringing up something irrelevant on a thread where people are paying their respects and/or dealing with a deep and sudden loss and is doing it in a way where he's oblivious to the possible implication. Either way, I think shitty is a reasonable word. If he wants to talk about an issue in Silicon…
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Mo Koyfman, a VC, tweeted that it is likely a heart attack. https://twitter.com/mokoyfman/status/594549389340876801
I know of 2 guys who had a case of "sudden death" in the valley, both from heart attack, both were using stimulants and working very long hours in their startups. I know from previous threads that a lot of folks in the valley use stimulants to get through nights without sleep, to work with high focus, but guys you have to be careful. Stimulant use aside, keep in mind cardiovascular diseases is one of _the_ bigger kil…
Having seen thousands of these studies I can state that many people have severe coronary artery disease at young ages (in their thirties). They are at risk for sudden death. Often they come in for the exam because a parent or sibling died prematurely either recently or at the same age as they are now.
What's interesting, in my experience, is that very often when siblings get the exam, the one with obvious risk factors such as obesity, smoking, diabetes, etc has a normal exam result and the sib with no risk factors (other than maybe sharing a bad family history) has severe disease.
Read about CCTA http://goo.gl/o1RvD5
My condolences to his family.
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He looked otherwise healthy I wonder if it was something related to sleep apnea. Ryan Davis from Giantbomb also died suddenly while on his honeymoon. http://www.giantbomb.com/ryan-davis/3040-93335/forums/ryan-d...
Way too many people dismiss sleep apnea. Folks, it can kill you - or cause other serious problems. In addition to narcolepsy, your general metabolism can get messed up too. I spent 4+ years not getting any REM sleep and my metabolism STILL suffers as a result - even 14 years after starting on CPAP and using it EVERY night since then. It's too long to go into here - but I did a writeup years ago about my "journey", al…
Anyway he's seen a doctor many times, mostly for heart/cancer stuff, but also specifically for his sleeping problems. But there was never this response that his life was in danger and that he needed studies done because it might kill him, while the healthcare system is quite advanced here...