LOL Thanks Pap but thats life unfortunately, and i am thankful that i was lucky to have such a good father and was able to cherish every day i had on earth with him. A person may feel there is nothing wrong them and thats a key issue, without being hooked up to a specialized machine and being monitored by a heart specialist how can they detect symptoms such as irregular heartbeat/rhythm or measure the stress levels the heart is going through? I have no idea if my father had any detectable symptoms on a machine that would have shown he was at risk of an attack, as he like many others in his age bracket never took a heart test. However by the time he had the heart attack it was too late and he didnt have a pulse for the autopsy doctors to measure. Sure a test may not pick something up, but prostate cancer and heart disease kills a lot of older men, so with such a large percentage of people dying from those diseases i believe its better to err on the side of caution and have a checkup than just say 'she'll be right mate' which unfortunately is an attitude a lot of men 40+ tend to share. The tests can be a bit invasive but I believe your life and health is worth the extra effort. My father also died 8 years ago and i believe modern medicine gets more accurate as time goes on. So equipment and diagnosis should hopefully get better and better so what may have been undetectable 5 years ago could possibly show up these days. So thats another reason to not discourage the undertaking of testing. Also some of my intent for the post was to highlight in response to Greg wondering if there was a direct cause for MJ's heart attack so i was trying to point out that it can strike without having any major underlying causes/symptoms. Whilst I do believe EVERY ADULT should take the test. I go regularly myself, and though the numbers of people under the age of 30 dying from heart disease is statically lot smaller than those aged older i dont think its as much of an urgency to tell everybody under 30 to do it. Though of course they should.
I will be making a statement to the media in the next half hour,about MJ and our feelings down under. Lets blame him for the sub prime crash.
*NEWFLASH* Reports of Michael Jackson having a heart attack are incorrect. He was found in the Childrens ward having a stroke...
Oh Dear, I feel these are going to get worse, like his body had so much plastic in it it will be recycled into Lego. Thats so the kids can play with him......for a change....goodnight!
Sorry to hear about your Dad mate There is always a cause for heart attacks. They just don't stop for no good reason. No cause at autopsy may relate to the development of a fatal arrythmia. Acute haemorragic coronary plaques are a common cause in otherwise well fit men (eg Crazy John CEO) and are difficult some times to show at autopsy, although secondary signs of myocardial infarction may be obvious. You're right in that technology has improved significantly in the 8 years since your father passed. CT and MRI technology has improved exponentially and the heart and its arteries can be evaluated non invasively. There has been a huge push in recent years to evaluate coronary plaque morphology and identify which type of plaque is prone to rupture and cause sudden death. CT coronary angiography will become fairly come place in the next few years particularly as the govt is preparing to introduce a medicare rebate for it. (My own practice is gearing up for this when the govt opens up the floodgates!!!) There has also been lots of research and dollars invested by the various drug companies to produce a pill to control and makes these plaques regress. Regardless, MJ's heart probably stopped because he had OD on drugs (first thing I was taught in Medical School was that common things are common.........)
I remain hopeful that the latest news won't affect the prospects of Michael Jackson's tour coming to Australia.
RIP. I always felt sorry for Michael. I think he never had a childhood which is why he spent so much time with kids later in life. Typical tall poppy syndrome IMO.
