Neighbor on Atkins suffers mild heart attack

[sexee_babe]

I am really scared now, my neighbor who is 36 yrs old has suffered a mild heart attack and he is on atkins LCing.....what is going on here, it was a clogged artery.............help....need answers....and what about the 2 people that died?

Something is going on here....2 died 1 developed a heart abnormality....and a neighbor suffered a mild heart attack.

[Lisa N]

How long has your neighbor been on Atkins? The reason I'm asking is that atherosclerosis (clogged cardiac arteries) takes years to develop, not weeks, unless is was the result of a sudden blood clot in which case it wasn't dietary related at all.
You have to remember here that correlation does not prove causation. I plan to low carb for the rest of my life and eventually I'll die. Does this mean that low carb will cause it?
Also relating the 2 deaths and 1 heart attack, I've only heard of one while someone was on Atkins (although I'm sure there have been plenty more) and 1 heart attack. First of all, nothing has been proven conclusively; these are allegations mostly coming from sources that have questionable motives and even they admit that they cannot prove their allegations. Secondly, when you have millions of people following an eating plan, chances are some of them are going to die at any point in time. This would have likely occurred whether they were eating meat and vegetables or a steady diet of Big Macs in many cases; it's a matter of statistics, but again, it doesn't prove that eating low carb caused any of it.

[sexee_babe]

Sorry he is only 34 years old, and it was a clogged artery, I found out more tonight.

This scares me. He was healthy before the diet..maybe eating way too much fat....I don't know...I am off of atkins till I get further proof.

[sexee_babe]

I might try south beach...I think it is less fat.

Just researching now....I don't want to stop losing weight...and go low cal which does not work for me, this is depressing.

[Lisa N]

Regarding the fat/heart disease hypothesis, you may find this site will provide you with some food for thought: www.thincs.org

The more I read and research, the more I'm convinced that the fat/heart disease hypothesis theory has more holes in it than swiss cheese and the "evidence" behind it is shaky indeed. Add to that the fact that I've been following low carb for going on 3 years now; I had a Thallium stress test last year (after being on low carb for almost 2 years). Result? I may be a little out of shape, but my cardiac arteries are clear as can be.
Ultimately, we have to do what we all think is best for us, but do yourself a favor and actually read some of the articles on the site that I provided a link to. As a diabetic, I should be more frigtened of developing heart disease than the average person because statistically, I'm at much higher risk than the average person and yet on low carb, my cardiac profile has done nothing but improve.
I'm still curious how long that neighbor of yours was on Atkins before this occurred?

[hkblue]

Your friend obviously was NOT as healthy as everything thought he was. In fact, I bet if you looked into his past eating habits I bet you would find that he was not a "healthy" eater at all.

Another question you need to ask this friend is exactly what he ate. You should find out if he was one of those people who didn't really research Atkins and thought he could eat all the fat he wanted and very little veggies to go along with it.

I have found so many people who are on the Atkins diet who automatically think that they can consume all the meat and cheese they want. First thing people need to do is BUY THE BOOK AND READ IT! You will understand that you can't eat a side of beef everyday with nothing else and expect to stay healthy. This is not what Dr. Atkins meant when he said low carb. Actually, the last book of Dr. Atkins that I read called it "controlled carb", NOT "low carb".

I am so sorry about your friend, but I would be willing to bet my life that he was not healthy prior to starting this WOE. Hope he gets better.

[Dean4Prez]

I am really scared now, my neighbor who is 36 yrs old has suffered a mild heart attack and he is on atkins LCing.....what is going on here, it was a clogged artery.............help....need answers....and what about the 2 people that died?

Something is going on here....2 died 1 developed a heart abnormality....and a neighbor suffered a mild heart attack.

Out of millions on the diet. Don't jump to conclusions, sexee_babe. Was your neighbor very overweight? Was he physically active? Had he been on the diet very long?

Hundreds of people, some of them very overweight, have passed through research studies on low-carb diets. If the diet were as dangerous as you fear, surely some of those people would have suffered heart attacks during the studies and much made of the news.

[sexee_babe]

He wasn't very over weight, maybe by 40 lbs tops. Maybe he did eat all the meat and cheese he wanted,who knows....he is only 34...I just turned 39 today....yuck...I think I am going to boycott Birthdays from now on....LOL Just stay 39 forever.

I can't afford to stop Atkins, I love what it is doing for my body. But like I was saying I have to cut some fats out....not consume too much cheese and greasy meats such as bacon, I normally nuke my bacon seems to take alot of the grease away. More lean meats for me.

[Dean4Prez]

Remember the studies, too -- almost all people show improvements in their cardiac risk factors on this diet -- dramatically lowered triglycerides, lowered "bad" cholesterol, increased "good" cholesterol. However, some people, probably from genetics, will see a significant increase in bad cholesterol. Did your neighbor have a family history of heart disease? Was he under a doctor's care, with attention paid to his serum lipids? More to the point, do you have a family history of heart trouble? Do you know what your cholesterol and triglyceride numbers were and are? If you're worried about the possibilities, get those numbers done. You might also start getting some of the heart-healthy supplements Dr. Atkins recommends, if you aren't already taking them.

[jedswife]

why do you assume ATKINS is the culprit?

by the way current medical studies are starting to show that cholesterols levels have nothing to do with heart disease!!

[Lisa N]

why do you assume ATKINS is the culprit?

by the way current medical studies are starting to show that cholesterols levels have nothing to do with heart disease!!

Yes, like the Framingham study which showed that the more saturated fat the subjects ate, the lower their rate of heart attacks and this study from Mayo Clinic:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=149616 which showed that even in patients with existing heart disease, a diet of up to 50% saturated fat not only did not worsen the heart disease, their cardiac profiles showed improvement. There are also studies from Duke and Harvarad and I believe the University of Cincinatti which all confirm those findings that eating a high saturated fat diet combined with a reduced carb intake gives improvement in cardiac profiles in the vast majority of the subjects studied. Those that saw an increase in total cholesterol or LDL generally still had positive improvement in their cardiac profiles also as their triglycerides dropped remarkably and their LDL shifted from the small, harmful type to the larger (now thought to be beneficial) type.
And for all this fuss about HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, etc...it still remains that nearly half of those that have heart attacks have normal cholesterol readings so it appears that serum cholesterol is not a very good predictor of future cardiac events.

[komireds]

I can't afford to stop Atkins, I love what it is doing for my body. But like I was saying I have to cut some fats out....not consume too much cheese and greasy meats such as bacon, I normally nuke my bacon seems to take alot of the grease away. More lean meats for me.


I don't think this is a bad idea at all. I find that I stay away from fatty meat (except for special occasions) because it makes my calories skyrocket, anyway.

This WOE is really flexible. If you truly feel in your gut that the way that you are eating is "bad," then change it--even if it is only for your peace of mind. Eat more fish, cut out cheese and red meats, double your veggies and exercise, exercise, exercise. But don't ditch it because some people have health problems that may or may not be related to the WOE. It seems to me that, if anything, this WOE makes people healthier--and acknowledgement of that fact by the larger medical community doesn't seem to be far off...

[Angeline]

Wouldn't be a bad idea to limit bacon anyway, it's full of nitrites.

[Ghost]

It does take years to clog arteries. They keep pointing the finger at saturated fat but the real culprit, i'm sure, is the trans fats that they put in all the processed foods. Eating LC is healthy because we are not putting that crap in our bodies.

[Kathy54]

Well, I'd say chill out there gal :)

Do you know how many poeple in their 30/40, have heart attacks and strokes everyday??? Sorry I don't :rolleyes: know exactly but I can tell you it would probably knock your socks off.


Secondly, yes I agree that the greasey meats ect are not nesscessary on Atkins, I have reached my goal and passed it, with out them.

Cheers Kathy

[doreen T]

Young adults are succombing to diseases that were previously the afflictions of old age, as sugar consumption has increased and highly processed starchy foods have become staples of the diet .. white bread, rice krispies, instant oatmeal and sunny-type fruit drinks. Etcetera.

For the record ... children as young as 10 yrs old are now being diagnosed with atherosclerotic plaque build-up in their arteries, high cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes and Insulin Resistance. This is a testament to the increased consumption of sugar, fructose and processed starch foods in the last 30 years.

Check out this recent report in the Research/media forum .. It's What We Swig That Makes Us Big (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=149998).


Doreen

[Archie]

Can you say fickle!
Hey, I heard a guy was killed in a car accident....man I'm not driiving again!
and hey, what about the guy who choked to death on a piece of carrot....thank god I hardly eat any carrots!
Think a little bit about statistical probability. One guy in 300 million has a mild heart attack at the same time that he's "supposedly" doing Atkins. How overweight are you? Maybe you should check on the incidence of death due to overweight. I expect it's a little greater than 1 in 300 million. Obesity is certainly a greater threat to life than Atkins!

[Caddis]

The anti-low carb folks scared me too. I actually went to the hospital with chest pains. It was only heart burn. The doctor told me not to worry. My cholesterol has gone from 228 to 180. All other indicators are down. The best thing to do is to go get your cholesteral checked. You will be pleasantly surprised.


Mitch

[kyrasdad]

I'd check his family history. The more I read, the more signs pointing to genetic disposition I see. Diet, smoking, exercise, can help anyone have better odds, but if you're genetically predisposed to heart disease, you certainly have a larger bullseye on you than others.

I got bloodwork done before Atkins, and next month I'll get it redone. Pretty much everyone doing a diet of any kind should do those tests.

[hey_Neener]

My brother's friend was 20 when he had his heart attack. Needed a roto rooter job too. He's been on the all American junkfood diet all his life. When I heard about Brian, I changed my kids diet whether they liked it or not! They eat maintence level carbs. Bah Humbug on the naysayers.

[Zimms]

"He was healthy before the diet.."

Did he have a heart cath just before he started Atkins that showed no blockage? It is very likey that the blockage had been developing over the years. When did he start Atkins?

I am amazed by how few deaths and heart attacks I have heard about happening to low carbers (not that I think that it is unhealthy but years of bad eating before Atkins can catch up with a person!). Although I wouldn't disagree with watching your fat intake somewhat, I haven't seen anything that convinces me to quit Atkins (and I'm so much healthier now that I would be afraid to quit).

[K Walt]

Think of how many MILLIONS of heart attack victims are sent home on a LOWFAT diet. And how many MILLIONS continue to get worse anyway. Or even have ANOTHER heart attack.

Why doesn't anyone blame all THOSE recurring heart attacks on LOWFAT diets?

My father suffered a heart attack at age 58. Was never particularly fat. Doctors put him on a LOW FAT diet, which he followed religiously. Cholesterol kept going up. Had three angioplasties. Followed the LOWFAT diet religiously any way.

Three years later, had a fatal heart attack, having been on a LOWFAT diet for years.

I blame the LOWFAT diet.

Anyone who eats LOWFAT is looking for trouble.

[Lisa N]

Think of how many MILLIONS of heart attack victims are sent home on a LOWFAT diet. And how many MILLIONS continue to get worse anyway. Or even have ANOTHER heart attack.

Or go on to develop type 2 diabetes from their high carb/low fat diets. :thdown:

[wsgts]

I was a lacto-vegan only allowing fish as an a occasional treat when I develop Type II with a BG of 599. I was 24% bf at the time. It wasn't a low-fat diet per se that caused my problem, but the high-carbohydrate diet I ended up eating, all the fruit, pasta, bread, I wanted.

4 years later, and normal blood sugars and I am trying to get undiagnosed since I actually passed a GTT without any meds last month (highest measurement being 139 ~ 1 hour). Trust me, it's easier to be diagnosed, and impossible to be undiagnosed because the medical community has no way to diagnose a "cure".

Later,
wsgts

[black57]

Use your knowledge of what Atkins and Protein Power's Drs. Eades and all the other knowledgeable low carb doctors teach. Fat,by iteself does not cause heart problems, cholesterol, strokes gout etc. These things are cused from the body being bombarded with carbs which effects insulin. If insulin is affected then everything else will follow suit. Is it possible that becuase of the diet the heart attack was not as bad as it could have been. Many young people die in their thirties of heart disease without being on a low carb diet. Some doctors prescribe a low carb diet in liu of open heart surgery so there is no way a low carb det can cause your neighbors problems.
The way I see it, the diet may have saved your neighbors life.

[adkpam]

To me, it's the opposite: the fact that people have lowered their fat intake from 45% to 32% over the past 30 years, and heart disease and diabetes have greatly increased over this same time period.
Using these statistics, the more fat I eat, the better.
It just goes to show that probably your friend laid the foundations for his problem over years, and I really don't see how Atkins could have precipitated this problem.
It's not an eat fat/have more fat in your body situation. Or I wouldn't have lost 40 pounds by vastly upping my fat intake.

[black57]

I am not from Mars or Venus. My cholesterol is way low ( total=148 ). Triglycerides are way low 59 and glucose is 98. I achieved these results on the Atkins diet. How can I been out of the ordinary? Oh I forgot, this is ordinary on this diet.

Black57

[Quinadal]

I work on a cardiac floor in a hospital. We get people that are positive for heart attacks every day. Most of them look perfectly healthy!

Another problem is the cholesterol meds like Lipitor and the other statins. They CAUSE heart attacks by depleting the body of CoQ10.
CoQ10 and health (http://www.diabetestea.com/coqten.html)