The Upside of Heart Disease

[RebeccasHeart]

On February 18th, the good folks at The European Heart Journal published their findings in an interesting study.  They determined that people who are usually happy, enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend not to be happy.  They believe that they have been successful in showing an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease.

So, in a nutshell, the better your outlook on life, the less chance you will develop heart disease.  Well, that’s all well and good for all the ‘normals’ out there.  But what about the 8 million women currently living with heart disease in the U.S.?  To have them tell it, that’s a whole lot of ladies in a constant state of funk.  Am I to believe that I have heart disease because I have a bad attitude?

I refuse to believe my condition was caused because I’m a grouch now and then.  Truth be told, I’m quite happy; even with this stupid disease.  I’ve always been rather optimistic about the future.  So, before I let this study get the better of me and send me into anger management, I thought it best to accentuate the positive.

Can’t VS Can

Yes, having heart disease *****.  There, I said it.  However, instead of beginning my next sentence with the words, “I can no longer…” I’m going to begin my next sentence with “Now I can…”

Now I can spend more time with my family.

Now I can better discern my physical and emotional needs.

Now I can better appreciate every single day of life that I’m given.

Now I get to ride in a motorized cart at Disneyland instead of using my legs like a sucker.

You get the idea.

The more we focus on the positive, the better our life will be.  That’s true with all things, and according to this study, especially as it affects heart disease.

So, tell me.  How would you complete this sentence?  “Now I can…”

[ed34]

I think coronary artery disease was discovered by a russian scientist around 1912. I have no idea if anyone could have been diagnosed before that time if it was not discovered. However, my point is, if we go back just 30 years, statistics show that heart disease is on the increase.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

Maybe I didn't say it right...  How long ago was heart disease first discovered? and how many died from being diagnose with heart disease before that? as opposed to today.  I think i spoke too fast for my brain to realize what I was typing in the previous post.

[ed34]

Heart disease is very  well understood today and has been for decades. You believe that the increase in heart disease each year in most countries is due to misdiagnosis or that heart disease is not yet discovered? If a cause of death is unknown, then a post mortem is carried out to establish the reasons. Well, that happens in the UK. One of the obvious things they look for is coronary artery disease. So, surely, misdiagnosed or not, is it not still picked up eventually?

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

  I was going to add to my post but forgot about it...  Years ago there were no people with Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome.  About 1996 there seemed to be a spurt of people with it, then 2000 there were a bunch that had surgery to get rid of the symptoms,  and recently there has been a large full grown epidemic.

  of course I should mention, which the media probably wouldn't, that it was only first wrote about in 1996.  Only a few Dr.'s actually knew anything about it in 2000, and now, recently, Many Dr.s know about it and regularly test for it.  So, hence, the recent growth of people with SCDS.  An "epidemic"? No!  Just something that was miss diagnosed for many years and is only now accepted as a condition of it's own.

RadioAstronomyObserver, AKA Michael,
Who was diagnosed with SCDS a month ago. :-(

[ed34]

I used to wonder if it was due to population increase and survival of heart attacks but when I was growing up I never really heard of anyone dying from heart attack. I'm not saying there weren't any, just that I didn't hear of any. It was the same with cancer. Now virtually everyone I speak to says "oh ive had a bypass" or "I've got cancer". It's just incredible. I remember reading a science article which said "We are encountering these diseases more now because the body is not really supposed to last much more than 40 years". When I was a kid, you would be blown away in shock if someone under 70 had a heart problem, but now it's happening with people in their 30's.
When I said I believe western society is the blame, I meant more than the exercise and diet element, although these obviously contribute. I think our society is much more stressful than we realise. In the UK, the only chance you have of getting a property is to either take out a mortgage or pay high rents. Jobs are not secure, they haven't been since Thatcher destroyed the unions. We spend our younger adult years in very high stress mode and the sad thing is we don't even realise it half the time. Rather than create a society which fits our bodies, we are constantly trying to find ways to modify genes to make our bodies suit society. If you take some of our close genetic relatives and put them under stress, the results speak for themselves. If they don't die very quickly, they develop mental disorders which affects the rest of their lives. This happens in a few days, so goodness knows what years of stress does to us. Looking back a couple of years, the strangest thing that cardiac rehab said to me was "avoid stress". At the time I found that to be a joke because I was unable to work, was at risk of losing my home, all my so called friends didn't seem to be around because I was no longer earning good money and on top of that my wife was fighting cancer. Avoid stress they said. I spent many weeks analysing myself trying to understand what things caused me to become stressed and forced myself to relax. You won't believe how hard that is because it has been a normal way of life for so many years. Now I am pretty good at avoiding stress but it did take a long time. No matter how much I worry, tomorrow is always going to come. No matter how much I worry, money isn't going to magically appear on a tree for me. I just take each day as it comes and enjoy every moment of life I can. I look at young adults rushing around like busy bees. They believe they have to be that way to survive, but really they don't. I think there should be a world organisation which teaches people to chill. I bet with this recession the instances of heart disease has risen.

[RebeccasHeart]

Dear Ed and Radio;
I absolutely agree with you both.  Lifestyle, modern conveniences, diet all play into why heart disease runs rampant in western society.  

Thank you for your comments; loved them!
Rebecca

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

  First, I was being sarcastic, having a bit of fun about the chest zipper and getting a date :-)

  I wonder how much of this comes from the rapid growth of population in the last 50-75-100 years where now there's a larger number of specific problems simply because there is a larger number of people.  I also wonder how much of this comes from being healthier after problems.  I.E. there's more people with heart disease simply because there are more people surviving heart attacks.  And finally, I wonder how much of this is simply having numbers....  when were these numbers first started to be tracked? and when was it recognized that heart disease is a problem as opposed to being diagnosed as dieing from being too lazy (because it hurt too much to be active).

  I do also fully believe the comfortable life we have today as opposed to 100 years ago also plays a very big role where we no longer have to work hard for our food and shelter.  So, in essence I'm agreeing with Ed's last statement about it being the western society's fault but with a slight twist, not the society as much as the conveniences.

[vicki240]

Thank you for your positive additude! Life is excellent so let us all keep positive!
vicki240

[ed34]

In my honest opinion, western society is the cause of heart disease, and as western values spread through the world, heart disease seems to be following.

[RebeccasHeart]

Bravo Ed!  You said it in a much better way than I could.  That's why, in my humble opinion, those of us who actually have this disease are in a better position to make the call.  Appreciate your reply.

Rebecca

[joanincarolina]

Ditto to you, Ed and no, Radio, I don't have a "zipper" to show off. For me it's not so much about positive attitude and the "I can..." as much as it is persistance in the face of 'negativity', whether it's more tests or lack of answers. It's being confident in knowing what your body is doing and confident enough to pursue issues with professionals.I am a positive person, so positive, that if I wasn't, I'd be communicating from the 'other side'! Medicine is an art, as well as a science. Joan.

[RadioAstronomyObserver]

Pick up a date at the beach by showing off my big baud chest, complete with a zipper!

[ed34]

Personally I think it's a load of *****. I really don't know where they get these stupid ideas from to be honest. Tomorrow I could do a research paper and say everyone who has heart disease drinks water, therefore water must be affecting some people and not others. I'd love to know where some of these researchers get their information from, I've never been asked any questions and neither have any of my many friends. Do they make them up? Everyone in my area knows me as the optimist with a great outlook on life, it takes a heck of a lot to get me down. So, as usual, I guess I'm the oddball in the research results.
I remember when I went to rehab they mentioned something similar, but it was "any people who are perfectionists are likely to get heart disease". More *****.
If people get paid to come up with this nonsense, I need to send in my references and get a job there.