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Dave’s Heart Surgery — An Overview
There’s sure to be confusion over Dave’s upcoming heart surgery (the Jim Fixx syndrome, am I right?), topped with a dollop of internet turmoil. I’ll do my best to explain what we know, and wherever possible, provide links to information that you can apply to your own goal of a healthy heart.
Dave’s surgeon will be repairing two distinct problems, one caused by alcohol abuse decades ago, the other from arterial blockage accumulated over time.
You probably already know part one: Years of excessive alcohol caused congestive heart failure — he flatlined in 1983. Every cardiologist Dave’s seen in the intervening years has commented on his remarkable recovery, and all have said, “Keep doing whatever you’re doing, Dave.” Still, while the heart muscle recovered to near perfect, a valve is loose, doesn’t close properly and leaks. This the surgeon will fix by sewing a ring around the valve opening to tighten it.
The second issue concerns the artery replacement — bypass grafts done using arteries from other parts of the body. This is needed when blood can’t flow well through arteries clogged by plaque. He’ll come home with three replaced arteries, but because one has a fork in it, it’s counted twice (we just have to assume the surgeon is smarter than this implies), bottom line: quadruple bypass.
One twist that’s still to be discussed — the elephant in the room: steroids. Steroids are known to cause heart problems, notably heart attack and stroke, as well as increasing LDL cholesterol while lowering HDL cholesterol. Dave did not have a heart attack or stroke; his cholesterol regularly rests in the 130s total (at the time of his first stent work in 2000, his total cholesterol was 118); and his cardiologist said under no circumstances did steroid use decades ago cause his problem today.
Next, let’s talk some more about cholesterol and blocked arteries, what we think caused Dave’s problem and how you can use this information.