question re: cardiac stent

DH had a heart attack in 01 after eating fettucini alfredo for 3 days in a row.

There's a reason food like that is called heart attack on a plate. He had two stents put in and the cardiologist said eat WALNUTS after each meal with lots of fat in it. The walnuts relax the arteries and help escort cholesterol out of the blood system.

Better still... lose the high fat meals... and definitely quit smoking.

DH had quit smoking years BEFORE the heart attack. YEARS before! But he continued to eat junk. He was also a jogger. Had he gone out for his run that morning he would not have made it back home.

So...while quitting smoking is mandatory... it is not enough. It is a step in the right direction. And getting checked out thoroughly by a very good cardiologist is a must.

DH got the message loud and clear and has cleaned up his diet and is a poster boy for heart healthy lifestyle. His last visit a few years ago...the cardiologist said "if you didn't have two stents...and If I didn't KNOW you'd had a heart attack... I would say there is no evidence of heart disease".

Hope it all works out for you and yours.

cts

CA POPPY wrote:
Night before last, our nephew, age 47, smoker, not overweight, was taken to the hospital with weakness and profound sweating. A cardiac blockage was diagnosed from a scan and yesterday, the procedure was "done." Except that when they got to where the blockage was supposed to be, there was none! What? How could that be? They sent him home last night, telling the nephew that he obviously has to give up smoking. Has anybody heard of such an experience?

Unless anyone who is responding is a physician, all comments are anecdotal, including mine.

Smoking is a killer. Not only the obvious cancer risk, but the less obvious cardio-vascular risk.

Your nephew continues to smoke and kills himself, or stops smoking and allows his body to start healing.

I smoked 3 1/2 packs per day for 37 years and quit cold turkey. Five years later had a massive heart attack where only an angioplasty was performed all they could do. Blood pressure was next to zero and a pulse was 12. Had a smaller about five years ago where a small artery up and in the back of my heart had a small blockage. Treated with Plavix for a year and Metronol (still on)

Lot's of people associate cigarette smoking with lung disease. While this is true, nicotine causes other deadly diseases. Pancreatic, bladder, oral, esophageal cancers. Heart disease is a biggy, that many people don't think of as being caused by smoking. Nicotine is a powerful vaso-constrictor. It causes the coronary arteries to constrict. That will slow the blood flow, just as if you stepped on a garden hose. If you have atherosclerotic deposits,(very common with a Western Diet)there is more 'stuff' to block the artery. If the blood is stopped from getting to the heart-the tissue dies.
As an RN, and a cancer patient-if someone told me there would have been something that I could have done to prevent this disease- you better believe I would have done it. My cancer was caused by genetic factors, so other than choosing different parents.....
It's kind of a no-brainer to me. Take care of your body, you only get one.

I am still wayne_tw wrote:

Unless anyone who is responding is a physician, all comments are anecdotal, including mine.
Smoking is a killer. Not only the obvious cancer risk, but the less obvious cardio-vascular risk.
Your nephew continues to smoke and kills himself, or stops smoking and allows his body to start healing.

Understood. DH and I don't smoke and neither have our kids, probably mostly because of allergies, we couldn't tolerate it. The branch of the family tree that lives in the Deep South is another story. Those relatives in our kids' generation eat too much and smoke, many are diabetic, a bunch of them are already gone. Just sad. The 40's ought to be a good time of life.

I had three stents and an angioplasty done on a smaller artery. Had 95%; two blockages on the Left outside descending artery and 85% on the right coronary artery. I now have no wall motion from the front mid-wall down to the bottom where the ventricles are. I have Congestive heart failure; Ischemia and high lipid count. Caused mostly from cigarettes. Yes the heart attack was the wake-up call and haven't smoked one since March 30th 2012. I smoked since 1963; quit about four times before so I smoked for about 45 yrs.
I am very fortunate to be alive today to even discuss this and i hope your nephew the most success. It was not easy; but it is worth it.

covetsthesun wrote:
DH had a heart attack in 01 after eating fettucini alfredo for 3 days in a row.

There's a reason food like that is called heart attack on a plate. He had two stents put in and the cardiologist said eat WALNUTS after each meal with lots of fat in it. The walnuts relax the arteries and help escort cholesterol out of the blood system. cts

That's what I do. Every day I munch on a combination of walnuts, almonds and raisins (unsalted, of course). I do a lot of reading on health matters and everyone is in agreement that nuts (particularly walnuts) are high in the beneficial fats and good for the heart. Of course, too much of a good thing is not good and too many nuts can contribute to weight gain. About a handful is supposed to be enough But I sometimes overdo it, just a little bit...:)