A friend’s heart attack, a documentary film and a celebrity death

On Saturday evening, I watched the movie WIDOWMAKER and went to bed with a heavy heart thinking of the high incidence of heart attacks among young men in the age group 38 – 50 in my social circle in the past couple of years.  6 of them had heart attacks, 2 survived. (One of them a friend. It was only after the friend got a heart attack that I started observing the trend.) The remaining 4 left behind young widows, little children and old, distraught parents.After some time, I stopped counting.

[Edit] 17 July 2018 – I thought I had stopped counting… but too many young deaths in the recent past. In the past couple of months, 3 young people I know died of heart-attacks. A 45-yr old man, leaving behind a wife and two children, a boy aged 18 and a girl aged 13. A 35-yr old young man leaving behind a wife and a 5-yr old boy. A 46yr old lady. 2 of them were my relatives. Two of them didn’t know that they had heart disease. One knew but it was quite late and the health condition was so advanced that even an angioplasty could not be performed.

This is the first generation in the history of mankind to lose their adult children not to war, wild animals or plagues, but to chronic diseases. Quite heartbreaking to see parents bury their young children in the prime of their life.

I was grateful that my spouse and I started LCHF 4 years ago. He has lost 30 kgs and has some more to lose. I realise that had we not started and continued to follow LCHF, I would have already become a widow or would become one in the next 10 years. Or I would have probably left him a widower. When we look at others whom we’re not connected or related to, we never realise that it could happen to us. When the tragedy happened closer home, the reality hit me hard and I considered that possibility that it could have very well happened to my spouse. Imagining a life without him… well, it’s unimaginable.

Then I woke up on Sunday morning to read the news about the wonderful actress Sridevi’s death. Later in the day I also watched the video WHAT REALLY CAUSES HEART DISEASE – Dr. Jeffrey Gerber, MD and Ivor Cummins on Diet Doctor website. Later in the afternoon, Sridevi’s relatives said that she had “no history of heart disease.”

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That is the issue! Cardio-vascular disease goes undetected and people suffer sudden cardiac arrest/heart attack and often die before they can be rushed to a hospital and a stent or other interventional measures can be performed. David Bobbet (who had a mere 3% risk under the ‘Framingham Risk System”, but ended up with a 75% risk in the Heart scan) says, “I don’t know any other disease where the first time you know you have the disease, you’re dead.”

From what I learnt watching these videos and reading many other books on cholesterol I’ve come to know that

• Insulin resistance is a major cause of conditions of metabolic syndrome (hypertension, diabetes, CVD, strokes, poly-cystic diseases and a host of other problems). So don’t wait till high blood sugar goes through the roof. A blood glucose test is already quite late. Test your insulin levels soon. (To know the relationship between insulin resistance and diabetes, check out these videos: in Tamil. In English)

• The much-recommended blood cholesterol/lipid panel test is a poor predictor of heart disease. It’s just a surrogate test. A better predictor is a coronary calcium scan of the heart. Dr. Gerber says “Calcium is not a Risk Factor. Calcium is a Disease Marker”

Dr. Thomas Dayspring, lipidologist says

The majority of heart attacks are due to insulin resistance
LDLc is a near-worthless predictor for cardio-vascular issues

Note: Even if you’re not overweight, there’s a probability of insulin resistance or heart problems, if you’re around 40 years and have been on a predominantly grain diet till now.

Dr. William P. Castelli, Cardiologist, Director – Framingham Heart Study says

Unless LDL levels are very high (≥ 300mg/dl), they have no value in isolation, in predicting those individuals at risk of Coronary Heart Disease.

Dr. Jeffrey Gerber suggests that anyone around 40 (and I would add even if you’re 35 and overweight or diabetic) to please get these 3 tests done.

1. HOMA-IR (to know level of insulin resistance)
2. Fasting and PP insulin (to know level of insulin resistance)
3. Coronary calcium scan (to know plaque build-up in your heart)

David Bobbet says, “This is not a percentage game – death is an individual game”. But the pharma industry and the medical fraternity is not going to mourn for you, you’re just a statistic for most of them. Your well-intentioned (albeit misinformed doctor) will shrug his shoulders sadly and might even shed a tear or two wondering why you died inspite of having followed the “recommended guidelines”.  Please look out for your own health.

The first step is to educate yourself.

The educational movies I watched are available if you have a Diet Doctor monthly membership. But you can have the first month’s membership free. I would recommend that you join the first month free and watch the informational videos, documentaries, movies (all with sub-titles) and see if it makes sense. If you think that what you learn here will help you heal from your chronic conditions and live longer and better, then go ahead and become a member. If not, exit after a month. The reason I recommend Diet Doctor is that it’s an integrated platform; I do not get monetary gain from them. (https://www.dietdoctor.com/new-member)
If you like to read rather than watch videos, then this the place to go to: https://idmprogram.com/
There are many other resources listed in the “Resources” page, check them out: http://indianlchf.com/

Educate yourself; take care!
Live long and live healthy!

Be around for your loved ones.

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REFERENCE RANGE FOR TESTS

Fasting insulin

Best: 2 – 3

Safe: 3 – 6

Prediabetic:  >8

PP (2-hr insulin)

Non-diabetic: <30

Diabetic: >40

HOMA-IR

Healthy Range: 1.0 (0.5–1.4)

Less than 1.0 means you are insulin-sensitive which is optimal.

Above 1.9 indicates early insulin resistance.

Above 2.9 indicates significant insulin resistance.

Coronary Artery Scan Calcium Values