Angioplasty Article

[Eydawn]

I want to know what everyone thinks of this article. I know most of us aren't cardiologists... but I want people to think about how this article was written, what kind of message it conveys, and what you think about the subject itself.

http://www.slate.com/id/2165826/fr/rss/

I reserve my own opinions for a bit later. I think it's an interesting article, at the very least.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

MI EMT-B

[Ridryder 911]

Just to show anyone can publish anything on the internet without credentials or references. Sorry, it appeared poorly written and confusing with emphasis on "plumbers analogy" only to resort to use the analogy as well. I first thought it was written by a disgruntled plumber..

R/r 911

[Doczilla]

It misses the point that nonemergent cardiac catheterizations are done not to prevent heart attacks, but to diagnose and treat lesions which lead to anginal symptoms or CHF. I would not call this monumental waste. Lesions which cause heart attacks are not the stable slow-growing 90% stenosis with a thick fibrous cap, but the unstable 10% lesion with a thin and friable cap, which Dr. Agastson alluded to. These 10% lesions are not typically stented.

The statement that using thrombolytics for acute MI was ineffective is just plain untrue. In the short term, it is just as effective as emergent angioplasty.

I think it brings up some very good points about dietary modification and medication. Too bad so few are listening.

'zilla

[pyroknight]

If you thought that was interesting, you should read more about the good Doctor Forssmann at NNDB.

As the not-so-proud owner of a three-month old cobalt chromium stent, I am profoundly grateful that Dr. Forssmann and those who followed took up their folly and made such treatment available. Though I missed my 90 minute window by approximately 18 hours (you get a private jet to the cath lab from Southeast Alaska and no one guarantees that the weather will cooperate), I believe my stent was the right treatment for the huge clot right in the middle of my LAD just past the first diagonal. My angiogram was remarkably clean except for the lesion that they stented. I was not morbidly obese, but I was two weeks into a new exercise regime attempting to reduce my body fat. I credit the aspirin a day that I started taking at 30 for saving me from the deadly fate of my grandfather and an uncle. A very small plaque ruptured and turned into a HUGE honking (that's a technical medical term) thrombus. Maybe it would have fully occluded if not for the ASA, maybe not. I think it made a difference. They don't call the LAD the "widow-maker" for nothing.

As far as the Arkansas BMI part of the story, I am pretty sure that they are discontinuing the program because too many ignorant parents think it makes their children self-conscious. Good grief! Heaven forbid they get embarrassed, lose fifty pounds, and live a longer healthier life! No! Let's coddle them, fatten them up, and pay for stents for THEM at age 25! That will be an improvement!

I like the plumbing analogy. I have used it dozens of times in referring to my own procedure. If you think about it, if you do a little maintenance on your household drains occasionally (clean out the hair, don't pour grease down the drain, give your plumbing some enzymatic "supplements") they won't clog either. Americans (sorry Canada and Mexico, we've commandeered the term, we're arrogant like that) love our disposable society. Every couple of years we toss our cell phones for new ones and we cherish our disposable diapers and paper towels. We don't maintain anything. If it breaks or wears out, we toss it and buy a new one. Why should it be surprising that we treat our bodies the same way?

If you want to see obesity taken to extremes, see the article on erotic weight gain in this month's Details magazine (Details). (No, I do not work for Details)

[Eydawn]

Thank you guys... I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one sitting here going "now wait a minute..." with this article.

My journalism professor linked it in her blog. She links a lot of things. I wanted to get a little feedback from folks on the 'City before I went off on it and completely irked her. I've read a lot of *BS* this term... including, but not limited to, an article on the movie "Zoo", which is about bestiality; an article from Mother Jones that basically said that VT happened because we ignore violence against women, and an article about how wonderful it is that this up and coming young singer gets to wear Prada to the Grammys.

There's a difference between journalism and actual news. That's something I've learned far too well this quarter. Write something, get it published, it's journalism. There's a lot degrading that particular craft out there in my honest opinion.

I thought there must be reasons for doing stents in a non-emergency type setting, now I know why.

Thanks folks!

Wendy

CO EMT-B

MI EMT-B

[Dustdevil]

Plus 5 to Pyroknight.

That was your best post ever.

You should frame it. And rant more often.