Heart Attacks at 16???

Looking at what a society accepts as normal can tell you alot of information. Some cultures think cannabilism is "normal" and others think that mistreatment of women is "normal". If we look closely enough we can really see some of the problems in our society when young 16 year old kids having heart attacks is accepted as normal.

Last year I had to take a CPR class to get certified to be a rafting guide. In that CPR class, one 16 year old boy was there because his friend had a heart attack at 16. He wanted to learn CPR to help his friend in the event that he should have a second heart attack.

So many people are confused about heart disease. They think it has something to do with genetics.

In the China Study, a county of over 500,000 rural Chinese was observed for a three year period. In that time not one person below the age of 64 died of heart disease.

Here in America the story is different. My Accounting teacher passed away at 38 from a heart attack and my uncle at 37 from a heart attack.

What makes our outcomes different? The rural Chinese consumed 1/10th the amount of animal products that Americans do. In their culture it was common for people to only have one serving of animal products per week.

These are poor rural Chinese people that had no access to fancy supplements or to some crazy juice that someone tries to sell because it has all kinds of antioxidants in it.

The other misconception people have in America is that heart disease is a normal part of life or that it is unavoidable. Some people even think it isn't that big of a deal.

My grandfather died of a stroke at 65. Imagine working a lifetime and finally reaching retirement age and then dying of a preventable disease.

My great grandfather had a stroke and was unable to talk for the remainder of his life. Strokes and heart attacks are serious. Anything we can do to avoid them is worth it.

The picture is of Jean Dominique-Bauby and it is after his stroke he had at the age of 43. The movie, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is about his life after his stroke. This poor man was so young. Too young to have a stroke.

After Jean had his stroke he was only able to make some simple movements of his head and eyelids. He was unable to talk. His nurse used a very complex system of letters and blinking of his eyes to communicate with him.

Communicating like this allowed him to actually get a book published and then shortly after that he passed away.

I feel really bad for Jean Dominique-Bauby. I think our society has an obligation to tell people that getting our total cholesterol below 150 can make us heart attack proof.

Please let me know if you think it is ethical to with hold this information from people. We really should tell people about these doctors that are reversing and preventing heart disease so that young people don't end up having heart attacks and strokes.

Go to Heart Attack Proof for more information on heart disease reversal and prevention.