Rosie O'Donnell suffers heart attack

**Kittylady** · August 21st, 2012, 12:45 PM

I'm sorry for your loss Stella.

My best friend was 37 when he had his heart attack. Thankfully he survived but there is a long history of heart disease in the family; hardly any of the males have made it past 65 and his dad has already survived two heart attacks and numerous scares.

**Charmed Hour** · August 21st, 2012, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by BBDSP

Fish oil helps improve your lipids and it also makes your platelets less sticky (reducing the risk of a clot developing). It is also good for brain health and mood. For anyone who is worried about heart disease and aging gracefully, you should look into a fish oil product that is purified (to remove mercury). The only people who shouldn't take fish oil are those with bleeding disorders (trouble clotting).

They do know quite a bit about risk factors now, and there are algorithms for calculating your 10-year risk based on things like age, family history, lipids, waist to hip ratio, blood sugar levels, etc. You can do a lot proactively but only if you know what you are up against and have a physician who is on top of preventive medicine.

I've tried a few different kinds of fish oil and all of them repeat terribly on me. Nothing worse than belching fish.

**greysfang** · August 21st, 2012, 12:49 PM

There is no heart disease on either side of my family, I'm very lucky.

One of my uncles did have a massive heart attack at 26, but that was from drugs, not cardiovascular issues.

**MohandasKGanja** · August 21st, 2012, 12:50 PM

If I could afford it, I'd get all my fish oil via sushi (especially, "sake").

**Kittylady** · August 21st, 2012, 12:53 PM

You can get strawberry flavored cod liver oil. You still belch fish but get the added bonus of strawberries mingling with it too.

**Charmed Hour** · August 21st, 2012, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by Kittylady

You can get strawberry flavored cod liver oil. You still belch fish but get the added bonus of strawberries mingling with it too.

Oh, eww.

**MohandasKGanja** · August 21st, 2012, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by Kittylady

You can get strawberry flavored cod liver oil. You still belch fish but get the added bonus of strawberries mingling with it too.

Extra virgin cod liver oil, with a little balsamic vinegar is what I recommend.

**darksithbunny** · August 21st, 2012, 02:12 PM

My dad had a massive fatal heart attack at 37. He smoked, drank, and didn't eat healthy, but I am still scared shitless and go once a year for a check up since I hit 30.

**BBDSP** · August 21st, 2012, 02:32 PM

Nordic Naturals brand of fish oils are great for not causing fishy burps.

Krill oil is good too.

**sputnik** · August 21st, 2012, 02:37 PM

My dad died of a massive heart attack at 51. He had smoked occasionally - social smoker type, and weed in his younger days - but he was also a lifelong athlete, basketball in his youth and then an avid tennis player, drank red wine and was active. No history of heart disease in his family, they all live long lives. 2 months earlier he'd had a full check up and round of tests and he had normal cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. and he still dropped dead.
You just never know.
Like mohandas mentioned, the doctor who examined him post-mortem quizzed my grandma about childhood illnesses and suspects he had rheumatic fever that caused damage to his heart.

**Annika** · August 21st, 2012, 03:26 PM

oh my goodness i feel so bad for all of you who have had relatives and friends and mates die so young of heart attacks! i will have to stay away from this thread, it's so sad

besides cholesterol tests has anyone ever heard of the c-reactive protein test? measures the inflammation in your body, including arteries. i've been reading up on it and they state that it could be more important than having cholesterol tests as inflammation in arteries causes the cholesterol to stick more to the walls and cause blockages. when i went for a blood test my inflammation was 4.1, anything over 3 is baaaad. should be <1. i've been drinking anti inflammatory tea (ginger, curcumin & green tea), and fuck i gotta quit smoking and lose weight. plus i have had grave's disease since 2004 and apparently my thyroid decided to give up and now i've gone hypo (which can cause big heart issues). so i'm asking for synthroid when i see my doc, even if my T4 hasn't gone totally too low yet (tsh is high). anyone have hypo thyroid? does it make you cry all the time and wake up feeling like a truck ran over you? i feel 80 years old some days.

i just did a stress test today and had a total panic attack on the treadmill! i have a treadmill at home but never use the incline, so i run on the flat surface, the fuckers put it up to 10% incline the first three minutes then 12% the next three, by then i was crying and telling them i thought i was dying, so they stopped it. i didn't even make it to my target heart rate lol.

but they said there was nothing wrong there. i had the chest pain the whole time, so i think it's muscular. or my ulcer.

//eating klonopin like candy right now.

**Bellatheball** · August 21st, 2012, 04:13 PM

If anyone is interested, look up the Framingham Study. It's a really interesting study about all of the risk factor for cardiovascular disease. They studied almost everyone in the town of Framingham for decades. It's now used as the gold standard for risk assessment.

ETA: http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org/risk/index.html

**louiswinthorpe111** · August 21st, 2012, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by Annika

oh my goodness i feel so bad for all of you who have had relatives and friends and mates die so young of heart attacks! i will have to stay away from this thread, it's so sad

besides cholesterol tests has anyone ever heard of the c-reactive protein test? measures the inflammation in your body, including arteries. i've been reading up on it and they state that it could be more important than having cholesterol tests as inflammation in arteries causes the cholesterol to stick more to the walls and cause blockages. when i went for a blood test my inflammation was 4.1, anything over 3 is baaaad. should be <1. i've been drinking anti inflammatory tea (ginger, curcumin & green tea), and fuck i gotta quit smoking and lose weight. plus i have had grave's disease since 2004 and apparently my thyroid decided to give up and now i've gone hypo (which can cause big heart issues). so i'm asking for synthroid when i see my doc, even if my T4 hasn't gone totally too low yet (tsh is high). anyone have hypo thyroid? does it make you cry all the time and wake up feeling like a truck ran over you? i feel 80 years old some days.

i just did a stress test today and had a total panic attack on the treadmill! i have a treadmill at home but never use the incline, so i run on the flat surface, the fuckers put it up to 10% incline the first three minutes then 12% the next three, by then i was crying and telling them i thought i was dying, so they stopped it. i didn't even make it to my target heart rate lol.

but they said there was nothing wrong there. i had the chest pain the whole time, so i think it's muscular. or my ulcer.

//eating klonopin like candy right now.

Yes, everyone should get a c-reactive protein test. it basically tells how healthy you are internally. Most docs don't order it unless you request it. It costs about $10.

**stella blue** · August 21st, 2012, 07:29 PM

Annika, that is great information. I was not familiar with that test until now and I will certainly ask about it at my next checkup.

**Sarzy** · August 22nd, 2012, 02:58 AM

Yes that's interesting. I just checked on my blood test results from a while ago and I didn't even realise I'd had the c reactive protein tested but I did. My level was 3. Not great but ok I guess.

Stella, I'm so sorry to hear about your boyfriend.