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I Now Have a Cardiologist

joecieplinski.com

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Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#81

Post by mr_toad »

chirau wrote: post #13

If the Apple Watch can be credited for new detections, can we also blame it for non-detections? Just asking... Because if the value prop is that they can detect, then they should have some accountability for non-detected positives, no?

> they should have some accountability for non-detected positives

The device has been given a class II clearance by the FDA, which means it has to “ provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness “.

False negative rates are definitely one of the things that are considered in getting this. That doesn’t mean false negatives aren’t possible.

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#82

Post by usaphp »

cbsks wrote: post #51
usaphp wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine a regular sized family of 4, you have to shell out more than $20K/year for the most basic health insurance for your family if you are self employed, $20,000! and you still have to pay for EVERY doctor visit for your kids and regular checkups, and your family deductible is around $10-12K. And every year they send you a new increased quote by 10-15%. There should be some kind of a discount for families, like wh…

In my expensive area of CA, a gold insurance plan for a family of 4 costs $20,400 per year. That’s an insurance plan with a $0 deductible and $30 co-pay per doctor visit. That is far from the most basic health plan. A plan with a $12k deductible is $13,500 per year. Even so, a $20k a year is peanuts compared to the out-of-pocket expenses of a serious medical emergency. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking insurance i…

> $20k a year is peanuts compared to the out-of-pocket expenses of a serious medical emergency.

And that’s the most annoying part. The fact that $20,000 is considered peanuts in a medical condition is already outrageous. My friend’s wife had a c-section child delivery and was billed $38,000...for a 3 days stay at the hospital. No complications just a planned c-section. I understand that’s the reason why the insurance is so high

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#83

Post by dis-sys »

xs83 wrote: post #63
tasty_freeze wrote: post #15

It is odd to me how he keeps describing his $500/month insurance as being useless: he is generally in excellent health and his yearly expenditures are low enough that he is always paying down the deductible. Does he feel car insurance and home insurance are useless since he didn't total his car last year and his house didn't burn down? He knows this (as he mentions it obliquely) that he could lower his deductible but…

I honestly find this baffling that there is a "limit" on how much treatment you can have done based on an arbitrary $ cost. Australia generally has great "free" healthcare but even then it is complicated with rebates and gaps etc, its not completely "free" but there isn't exactly a limit on what you can have done under Medicare. If you have private medical insurance (an option not a requirement) then you can get a ni…

> Australia generally has great "free" healthcare

No, the Australian medicare system is not remotely close to being great. When a simple CT scan/MRI can take 4 months waiting time [1], I wouldn't jump up and defend such a failed system. It is not great, it is the complete opposite of that. Ever tried to do some dentals using that "free" healthcare you mentioned or ever tried 12-18 months elective surgery waiting time?

[1] https://www.2gb.com/hospital-waiting-times-for-crucial-surge...

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#84

Post by saagarjha »

est31 wrote: post #19

IDK about this. I find it kinda creepy to have my heart beat monitored & sent to a server far away and not under my control. I mean, ad companies already have so much data about me, do they also need to know how my heartbeat reacts to an ad? Does my insurer need to know it? I wonder whether it can detect sex and be used to e.g. track infidelity. On the other hand, of course it's great to save lives and help you detec…

> I find it kinda creepy to have my heart beat monitored & sent to a server far away and not under my control.

Heart rate information, like all health information gathered by Apple Watch, stays on your device unless you choose to back it up to iCloud. In this case it is end-to-end encrypted.

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#85

Post by brianpgordon »

dwhit wrote: post #7
laurencei wrote: post #4

If you put a popular device, with a medical detection tool into the wider population, it would be logical that the device would pick up on patients who would other not notice the symptoms (at least initially, if any). So then the question becomes what other daily device(s) could be made to do automatic health checks of certain specific indicators, which would give an early indication to the possible condition, thus i…

A toilet that monitored urine and stool samples would be a major lifesaver.

Smart Pipe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#86

Post by brianpgordon »

m0zg wrote: post #56
cbsks wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my expensive area of CA, a gold insurance plan for a family of 4 costs $20,400 per year. That’s an insurance plan with a $0 deductible and $30 co-pay per doctor visit. That is far from the most basic health plan. A plan with a $12k deductible is $13,500 per year. Even so, a $20k a year is peanuts compared to the out-of-pocket expenses of a serious medical emergency. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking insurance i…

In my area (Seattle) such plans aren't even available. So don't blindly assume that they're available outside CA. The deductible ranges between "high" and "crazy". Dental that you can buy through health exchange doesn't cover anything at all. I'm seriously at a loss as to why anyone would pay for it, if you can buy a better plan from the same company outside the exchange. And this year, Kaiser Permanente just nonchal…

> And this year, Kaiser Permanente just nonchalantly raised the premium by a little under 20%.

I wonder how much of this is due to the repeal of the individual mandate, which Wikipedia says takes effect this year.

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#87

Post by dreamcompiler »

dheera wrote: post #77

I have had a couple instances of ventricular fibrillation. I have an implant which brings me back to life when that happens; I would be dead without it. However, I do go unconscious for a few seconds until I get shocked back to life. Although my case is infrequent enough that it is not thought of as a risk by the medical community, for peace of mind what I would really like to have is a link between a watch of some s…

> the car could also self-drive itself to a hospital

I think you're onto a good idea, except for the above quote. It would be a much better idea to have the car automatically pull over to the shoulder, stop, engage the flashers, and call 911. Paramedics can keep you alive en route to the hospital with drugs, cardioversion, and CPR. Your car cannot.

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#88

Post by 1000units »

nradov wrote: post #68
1000units wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people get blasted with obsene amounts of ionizing radiation so the insurance pool can save a few bucks over an MRI. Disgusting.

It's not necessarily a cost issue. CT scanners have higher spacial resolution for angiography.

Interesting. How often are head CT's without contrast ordered following concussion? How often should they have been MRI's?

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#89

Post by rsync »

I also have a cardiologist.

It takes the form of a combination of very high output training (BJJ) coupled with regular, sustained aerobic training at a high percentage of my aerobic capacity (running and plyometrics).

It sounds like I'm being flip, or worse, self-satisfied - but I am quite serious.

If my heart started behaving strangely, or weakened in some way, I would notice immediately. It would be quite marked. Things that I partake in, and think about, and feel, would suddenly be off.

Or to put it more technically, I am running my body at a much lower set of tolerances where defects are immediately identifiable.[1]

I have a suspicion that my cardiologist is actually better than the apple one, since I could feel some differences that might not yet manifest themselves in some kind of measurable heart output.

The downside to all of this, in the faraway future (I am currently 42 years old) is that "heart trouble" might manifest itself during exercise in a sudden and acute fashion that leaves me dead. On the other hand, the exercise makes that, statistically, less likely.

I also enjoy it very much, so there's that.

[1] https://www.keyence.com/ss/products/measure/measurement_libr...

Re: I Now Have a Cardiologist

#90

Post by gotocake »

rsync wrote: post #89

I also have a cardiologist. It takes the form of a combination of very high output training (BJJ) coupled with regular, sustained aerobic training at a high percentage of my aerobic capacity (running and plyometrics). It sounds like I'm being flip, or worse, self-satisfied - but I am quite serious. If my heart started behaving strangely, or weakened in some way, I would notice immediately . It would be quite marked.…

The downside to all of this, in the faraway future (I am currently 42 years old) is that "heart trouble" might manifest itself during exercise in a sudden and acute fashion that leaves me dead. On the other hand, the exercise makes that, statistically, less likely.

Actually depending on your condition and your activities, it’s entirely possible that the first warning you’d have is dropping dead. I’m also not being flip or self-satisfied, and I also have an anecdote to share. A good friend of mine who was a serious tennis players, and later an equally serious swimmer and runner got his “warning” about two years ago. He was at a conference and complained of feeling a bit ill. Then he experienced sudden cardiac arrest and despite an AED on premises he died.

He wasn’t much older than you, was in perfect shape and ate well his whole life, saw his doctor and had good lab numbers. The “far future” you imagine is hopefully just that, far in the future, but it might not be. Like a lawyer as their own client, don’t be a fool and pretend to be your own cardiologist.

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