Where have all the heart attacks gone?

[Maple_Leaf]

Doctors around the world are reporting a significant decline in heart attacks and strokes.

Where Have All the Heart Attacks Gone? (Published 2020)

Except for treating Covid-19, many hospitals seem to be eerily quiet.

www.nytimes.com

 

[bluehende]

A possible explanation premised in the article are a lot more people seem to be dying at home. No real numbers but a Dr was interviewed and said the rate of deaths at home are sky high. This was in NY. It is very possible that people are delaying going to the hospital out of fear and are dying at home and therefore bypassing the hospital. Not sure this can explain it all.

 

[Maple_Leaf]

A possible explanation premised in the article are a lot more people seem to be dying at home. No real numbers but a Dr was interviewed and said the rate of deaths at home are sky high. This was in NY. It is very possible that people are delaying going to the hospital out of fear and are dying at home and therefore bypassing the hospital. Not sure this can explain it all.

Deaths at home should still show up as deaths from heart attacks in the statistics.

I wonder if we have stumbled on something about social distancing that reduces heart attack and stroke triggers?

 

[louisianab]

A possible explanation premised in the article are a lot more people seem to be dying at home. No real numbers but a Dr was interviewed and said the rate of deaths at home are sky high. This was in NY. It is very possible that people are delaying going to the hospital out of fear and are dying at home and therefore bypassing the hospital. Not sure this can explain it all.

This. Also a backup in morgues and pathologists in busy areas. They aren't going to do autopsies on patients who die at home unless medical examiner requests it. An elderly person who dies alone will probably just be "natural causes". To say "heart attack" they have to have proof and you don't have it when someone is alone or has a bunch of issues and just keels over dead. If the family wants an autopsy to determine cause of death beyond that, they would have to pay for it.

 

[DannyTS]

maybe this is the reason:

Feds classifying all coronavirus patient deaths as ‘COVID-19’ deaths, regardless of cause

The federal government is classifying the deaths of patients infected with the coronavirus as COVID-19 deaths, regardless of any underlying health issues that could have contributed to the loss of …

nypost.com

Feds classifying all coronavirus patient deaths as ‘COVID-19’ deaths, regardless of cause


The federal government is classifying the deaths of patients infected with the coronavirus as COVID-19 deaths, regardless of any underlying health issues that could have contributed to the loss of someone’s life.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, said the federal government is continuing to count the suspected COVID-19 deaths, despite other nations doing the opposite.

“There are other countries that if you had a pre-existing condition, and let’s say the virus caused you to go to the ICU [intensive care unit] and then have a heart or kidney problem,” she said during a Tuesday news briefing at the White House. “Some countries are recording that as a heart issue or a kidney issue and not a COVID-19 death.

“The intent is … if someone dies with COVID-19, we are counting that,” she added.

Asked whether the numbers could skew data the government is trying to collect, Birx said that would mostly apply more to rural areas where testing isn’t being implemented on a wide scale.

“I’m pretty confident that in New York City and New Jersey and places that have these large outbreaks and COVID-only hospitals. … I can tell you they are testing,” she said.

Enlarge ImageDr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinatorAP
Dr. Michael Baden, a Fox News contributor, said it’s reasonable to include the death of someone infected with the virus, who also had other health issues, in the COVID-19 body count.

“In the normal course, autopsies would then determine whether the person died of the effects of the COVID virus, whether the person had a brain tumor or brain hemorrhage, for example, that might be unrelated to it and what the relative significance of both the infection and the pre-existing disease is,” Baden told Fox News.

However, the number of autopsies being performed could be low due to the danger of infection, he said.

“Then you will include in those numbers some people who did have a pre-existing condition that would have caused death anyway, but that’s probably a small number,” Baden said.

The United States had 398,185 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday night, including more than 12,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

President Trump spent Monday trying to assure Americans that the US and health facilities are prepared for a possible surge in cases in the coming weeks.

“Progress has been made before the surge,” Trump said during the White House coronavirus briefing, where he said hospitals will be stockpiled with much-needed equipment. “The next week, week and a half is when the big surge is going to come.”

 

[bluehende]

So you are saying that everyone with a pre existing condition should not be counted,

The 46% of americans like me that have hyper tension.
the 17% of americans with heart disease
the 15% of americans with lung disease
the 10% of americans with diabetes
the 30% of americans that are obese

 

[Passepartout]

I called my provider. They said if I was experiencing the usual Covid symptoms to just isolate and stay home. Also that since virtually all medical facilities have been exposed, people who are not knowingly exposed should not go to the facility where they definitely are. Consequently no unrelated procedures are being performed.

Jim

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Lung infections often kill before the likely later heart attack. In France during WWII, the heart attack rate dropped precipitously, while at the same time the death rate from tuberculosis soared. (Just one of those odd correlations. . . )

 

[dioxide45]

So you are saying that everyone with a pre existing condition should not be counted,

The 46% of americans like me that have hyper tension.
the 17% of americans with heart disease
the 15% of americans with lung disease
the 10% of americans with diabetes
the 30% of americans that are obese

I think counting all deaths where someone has Covid as Covid deaths makes sense. Someone with hypertension that had Covid probably would not have died (at least not at that time) unless they had caught Covid. So I think the way they are currently counting Covid deaths makes sense. Most of these conditions are manageable with treatment.

 

[x3 skier]

So you are saying that everyone with a pre existing condition should not be counted,

The 46% of americans like me that have hyper tension.
the 17% of americans with heart disease
the 15% of americans with lung disease
the 10% of americans with diabetes
the 30% of americans that are obese

I just started a thread asking about “underlying conditions”.

If one has had high blood pressure and after medication, exercise, weight loss, etc no longer had high blood pressure, do they have an “underlying condition”? Would such people be included in the 46%? Similarly for the other items. If they are, one could see that potentially 100% of the US population has one or more “underlying condition” although some individuals certainly have more than one.

 

[TravelTime]

I just started a thread asking about “underlying conditions”.

If one has had high blood pressure and after medication, exercise, weight loss, etc no longer had high blood pressure, do they have an “underlying condition”? Would such people be included in the 46%? Similarly for the other items. If they are, one could see that potentially 100% of the US population has one or more “underlying condition” although some individuals certainly have more than one.

I do not have any underlying conditions. Neither does my DH. I know many people who are healthy and medication free. I have read that 60% of Americans have an underlying condition.

 

[bluehende]

I just started a thread asking about “underlying conditions”.

If one has had high blood pressure and after medication, exercise, weight loss, etc no longer had high blood pressure, do they have an “underlying condition”? Would such people be included in the 46%? Similarly for the other items. If they are, one could see that potentially 100% of the US population has one or more “underlying condition” although some individuals certainly have more than one.

I just searched using the words that NY reports as underlying conditions. I didn't dig too deep. I would think that 46% has to include those under control. One caveat is that the 46% was referring to adult americans. If you saw the Dr that gave the progression of the disease it talked about the two kinds of cells in the lungs and that the one infected is the cells that produce angiotensin converting enzyme. No data yet but since mine is under control with an ace inhibitor it makes me nervous that Covid19 and my medicines act at that point.

 

[TravelTime]

This data is for high blood pressure from the American Heart Association. I am surprised at how prevalent high blood pressure is and how many deaths and other problems are attributed to high blood pressure. I have the opposite problem. My blood pressure runs low. Usually the doctors are happy with that but low blood pressure also causes some problems.

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404 - Page Not Found Oh no! Something went wrong. Please try a new search and if you still don't find what you're looking for, visit our Contact Us page for helpful links and contact information. Back to American Heart Association Homepage

www.heart.org

They changed the definition of high blood pressure to 130/80. The standard used to be 140/90. The percentage of U.S. adults with high blood pressure jumped from 32 percent under the old definition to nearly 46 percent.

 

[DannyTS]

So you are saying that everyone with a pre existing condition should not be counted,

No but I am saying they may also count those who were imminently dying from something else (say in 1 day - 1 month).

 

[bogey21]

As one who had a couple of strokes over 5 years ago I attribute my not having another (or a heart attack for that matter) to weight loss, blood pressure medications and anti-coagulants (Eliquis in my case)...

George

 

[bluehende]

This data is for high blood pressure from the American Heart Association. I am surprised at how prevalent high blood pressure is and how many deaths and other problems are attributed to high blood pressure. I have the opposite problem. My blood pressure runs low. Usually the doctors are happy with that but low blood pressure also causes some problems.

Page Not Found

404 - Page Not Found Oh no! Something went wrong. Please try a new search and if you still don't find what you're looking for, visit our Contact Us page for helpful links and contact information. Back to American Heart Association Homepage

www.heart.org

They changed the definition of high blood pressure to 130/80. The standard used to be 140/90. The percentage of U.S. adults with high blood pressure jumped from 32 percent under the old definition to nearly 46 percent.

Here is a quick search number. Probably difference between americans and adults. Also the definitions have changed recently to lower the threshold. Here is the quote from the CDC and with there definition I am borderline under control even.

Nearly half of adults in the United States (108 million, or 45%) have hypertension defined as a systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or are taking medication for hypertension.3

and the link for those that want to read more.

Facts About Hypertension | cdc.gov

Learn statistics and other facts about hypertension (high blood pressure) in the United States.

www.cdc.gov

 

[Passepartout]

Welp. Deaths from heart attack (as listed cause) may be down, but people being at home with their significant others has caused a spike in domestic violence. BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER!