Hi

I am looking for answers and information. My sister's husband, aged 34, died 2 weeks ago from a heart attack. The coroner found that he had ischemic heart disease (but he didnt know it). He left behind two children, 2 years and 14 months. Aside from the tragedy of this all, that I am still too numb to feel as yet - is this a common occurence? Is there any information that someone can provide as to the causes of this? Jim did have a lot of stress in his life, cholestrol, have a belly but not obese in any way, didnt drink or smoke, and recently left work. This really was a tragic death - unexpected and in public. The children witnessed it. One minute the little boy was running to dad excitedly for a hug, and the next second his dad collapsed and died. Oh boy!!
Please help

Tina

About 25% of heart disorders happen with silent ischemia. Ischemia is almost always due to clogged heart arteries. The first indication is pain or discomfort in the chest area (angina) and treatable, however, silent ischemia progresses without any pain or symptoms until it is too late and there is heart muscle damage and heart failure. This happened to me. First indication was pulmonary edema (fluids in the lung) causing breathing problems and an emergency hospitalization.

I'm so sorry to hear the circumstances and my condolences to you and the family.

What tests would show something like this?? Even the silent kind? Would it show up on an echo?

TO THE OP:

I am so sorry for your loss and the lossof your family. My thoughts are with you. I cannot imagine. I am so sorry.

I am so sorry for your loss.

My husband age 67 had a heart attack 3 months ago, he is a survivor and doing well. He had med. controlled high b/p, his cholestrol was fine. Two years prior he had a stress test one year and a thallium stress test the next and passed both. He never had any symtons, no sob or edema just woke me at 1 a.m. and said call a ambulance I am having a heart attack. He had a cath done, in fact two, two days apart and 100% and 80% blocked. So you cannot rely on the tests either.

I asked the cardio why he showed no symtons and why he passed the tests, he said the tests have lots of false positives and negs. and no way did my husband become blocked like he was in 2 years.

So there was really nothing that could be done? Damn thats cruel! Do most people die from silent ischemic heart disease because they dont know they are sick? How can you not have symtpoms and then die? So many questions, but no more hope for him! I wish we would have known.

I am glad you are doing well.

Tina

My dad was 41 and just all of a sudden died like that. We had no idea he was sick. That was in 1986. He had just been to the doctor for a full physical not a month before and the doc said he was healthy as a horse. He had severe blockages too. Then a friend of mine was 30 and he was watching tv one night. The next day his girlfriend came down and he was still sitting there, dead of a heart attack. Another friend's son was 32 and he died from heart attack unexpectedly. It's not as uncommon as you would think.

Well, this is so not helping my severe anxiety. Reading this thread has really freaked me out. What is the freaking point of even trying to be healthy?? THis is so upsetting to me.

Tina,
I am so shocked and sad. He was my age, i probably had a narrow escape. Only major blocks ie, more than 70 % lesions only will be revealed in any non invasive test and no seemingly healthy person will get angiograms whicha are the only foolproof tests for finding coronary heart diseases.

The problem is that vast majority of myocardial infarctions, like the one your brother in law had are not caused by major detectable blocks, but by blood clots formed on minor, new and uncared plaque.

Patients like me who had major blocks are luckier, we came to know we had a problem becuase of the pain and got the right kind of treatment started to keep the plaques free of clotting and progressing, before we harmed ourselves by a plaque rupture.

Only way to reduce to almost zero the possibility of a plaque rupture is to refrain from smoking, do aerobic excercise regularly, eat low fat food and keep your cholesterol, BP & glucose below safe limit. Nothing else is going to help anybody much.. I was honeymooning when I had my first and only angina attack. I was atheletic, trim and a healthy eater, but used to smoke and had heart disease running in my genes...

This is so scary.

Especially being an ex smoker. I smoked off and on for about 10 years. I quit about 3 years ago. But I heard it can take over 10 years to even somewhat reverse the effects, and even then..you could be SOL. I wonder how much supplements like Fish Oil and CoQ10 help.

Well, this is so not helping my severe anxiety. Reading this thread has really freaked me out. What is the freaking point of even trying to be healthy?? THis is so upsetting to me.
Im right there with you..I was unaware of all these heart attacks in the 30 age group..Im 30 myself..

Im right there with you..I was unaware of all these heart attacks in the 30 age group..Im 30 myself..

I know!! I am 31. All my numbers are great (cholesterol, triglycericdes...), Echo was good, I dont smoke anymore, no drinking, eat healthy, take vitamins..but i feel like what is the point!! We still have to live in fear! My dad died at 46 - diabetes related. But he also had emergency open heart surgery in his 30s. I am scared to death I will follow in hs footsteps (tho I do lead a much healthier life).

Under the care of a heart specialist substantially reduces the risk of any surprises.

A stress test should and almost always discloses cardiac ischemia. I don't know how it could be missed! But people with no symptoms and not in a risk category, makes it likely the doctor will forego any heart tests.

Diabetes and heart issues are medically troublesome to treat, and it this group that is in a high risk for silent ischemia. I don't have diabetes but I do watch my glucose level as I favor sweets.
________________________________________ ___________________
A blood clot that cause a blockage would be embolism not ischemia.

Cheers44

Only 2.8% of women and 2% of men under 44 have coronary artery disease according to the American Heart Association. If your really worried about looking at the inside of your arteries there is a non invasive examination you can have called Ultra Fast Electron Beam Tomography Scan. A series of high speed pictures of the heart are taken which show the level of plaque and you get a report from a specialist.

In England where I live they give you the 3D photographs on disc which you can view on a computor- a real ice breaker at parties and family reunions!

You can probably get the test done for about $400 to $500.

For details about the test type " Electron Beam Tomography" in google

Hope this helps and please stop worrying !

Thankyou for your posts. I dont mean to freak anyone out. We were just very unlucky and my brother in law was very unlucky. I wish it hadnt happended. Im sorry for those who have lost someone this way. And I wish everyone good health. I have a huge job to do now that my grief is setting in and reality hitting home. Helping with my sisters two littlies, plus I have a 3 month old myself. I dont know what else to say

Tina

Hi Tiina,
Yes, it is possible for a person to have serious coronary artery disease without knowing it. This usually takes some years to develop, and often (but not always) there is a warning such as pain in the cardiac region, left arm, shoulder, on physical exertion. This is called Angina.
There are also dangerous heart rhythms that happen suddenly and can lead to cardiac arrest. The person may not be aware of his underlying structural heart disease, but there can be a few minor instances which lead to acute dizziness and a racing heart before a natural return to normal rhythm. This is an uncommon occurence, and a typical case would be a fit young (say 18- 25) man suddenly collapsing, and dying, after a football match.Another "trigger" to abnormal and dangerous heart rhythms is a "heart attack" (occluded coronary artery) itself. Even if such an attack were "minor" with minimal heart damage, it could trigger off such a rhythm.
I feel for you and your family, but I thought a few answers to your questions might help you to come to terms with the tragedy. I am not medically qualified, but have serious heart problems myself (rhythm problems) so take an interest in the heart and heart disease. It seems to me that your brother-in-law is one of the cases where the heart disease is not evident until a major incident or sudden death occurs. I am afraid that this circumstance is not uncommon. From what you have told us about your brother's lifestyle etc.he would have been seen as being in the "low risk" group.Hope this helps a bit.
Regards, Excelsior

me too i am 30 yo and have this chest tension pains, i am not sure if that is gerd - acid coming from stomach or is it the heart, i fainted 2 times for few seconds, lost my conceousness once after sex in shower, bevcause it was so hot and second in the morning when i woke up

i can run with full power but if i try to lift weights that are heavy i get the pain next day

i am not sure

i have a feeling like i will die soon, but will not go to the doctor to get me a stent or to put me on meds

Tina, I am so sorry to hear about your brother-in-law. I can relate because the same thing happened to my brother-in-law Oct 29 2005.(Last Saturday)
He was 44 and in excellent health. It happened right infront of his 15 year old daughter and left his wife a widow at 37. It scares me because I am 45 and have DVT. I truly believe the problem is our medical system in that we do not treat people until something goes wrong. And with the high cost of our medical system , most people are scared to go to the doctor because of how medical costs are sky rocketing. Preventive medicine (vitamins and supplements) is a better way in my opinion. Visit www.roex.com. They have supplemnts for just about every disease. It's not cheap , but I would rather pay alot of money to be healthy than to pay alot of money after I get ill.

Tina, I am so sorry to hear about your brother-in-law. I can relate because the same thing happened to my brother-in-law Oct 29 2005.(Last Saturday)
He was 44 and in excellent health. It happened right infront of his 15 year old daughter and left his wife a widow at 37. It scares me because I am 45 and have DVT. I truly believe the problem is our medical system in that we do not treat people until something goes wrong. And with the high cost of our medical system , most people are scared to go to the doctor because of how medical costs are sky rocketing. Preventive medicine (vitamins and supplements) is a better way in my opinion. Visit www.roex.com. They have supplemnts for just about every disease. It's not cheap , but I would rather pay alot of money to be healthy than to pay alot of money after I get ill.

Do you know how many lives could be saved and how much MONEY could be saved by ALL (including insurance companies) if every person was entitled to a full body scan say every 5 years??????? Our medical system IS screwed up and getting worse. Pharmacutical companies practically run this country and if people werent sick, they wouldnt make money. That is why people will die when they dont have to. There is NO preventative care in our medical system. It makes me very sad and very angry.

So sad but so true. It's all about the money. Lobbyist for the pharmacutical and insurance companies have the politicians in their back pockets . Doctors are starting to act the same way. It's a shame and makes me so mad also. Most medical insurance now has such a high deductable that it really only pays 80% of major problems. Everything else just about comes out of your pocket.

Thankyou for your responses. So sorry to hear of your loss too Jamie. Thanks for sharing your story with me and your perspective. I wish you good health.

Excelsoir - thanks for your information. I really could feel your concern and sadness for my family and thats comforting.

Sorry if I missed any other thanks. I am abit sleep deprived today due to bubs

Cheers

If ischemia is suspected (such as after a bad stress test), they could do a more invasive test, called an angiogram (sometimes also referred to as a cardiac catheterization). During this procedure, an incision is made, usually in the groin, and a small flexible tube (catheter) is fed through the blood vessels to the heart, and once in place, a special dye that will show up on xray is released into the arteries to trace the blood flow. This will identify areas that are blocked or narrowed.

My dad, who is now 59, has had this test several times (he had two major heart attacks both followed by triple bypass operations--the first at age 42, the second at age 52--so his cardiologist takes his symptoms and test results very seriously). After his last angiogram, his doctor decided he would benefit from having stents placed at the areas of narrowing. Prior to the procedure, my dad was suffering from frequent angina and fullness/heaviness in his chest with exertion. Since then, he has resumed walking for exercise, and his pace and distance are exceeding my mother's and sister's again.

so sorry about this. is a sad situation