While treating a heart attack patient at Timmins and District Hospital (TADH) in Canada, emergency doctor Chris Loreto discovered his own heart was in danger – admitting later that after three decades in the ER, he’d not taken his own health as seriously as that of his patients, and was guilty of feeling “bullet-proof”.
Although he had been experiencing repeated bouts of pain in the preceding months, often linked to exercise, Loreto had decided they were caused by acid reflux. However, the meds he was taking weren’t making a difference.
The discomfort peaked on 12 November during a hockey game, lingering around his shoulders. Again, the doctor shrugged off the pain, and went to work the next morning, a shift that involved helping to save the life of a man undergoing a massive heart attack.
But while speaking to the patient’s wife, Loreto recognised a lot of the same symptoms, reports ScienceAlert. The patient was also on medication for acid reflux – and that’s when the penny dropped. These were actually two very similar heart attack cases.
“His story was my story,” said Loreto – and blood tests and an electrocardiogram confirmed his heart attack.
Loreto has been on medical leave ever since, entering a rehab programme which includes the insertion of stents inside his arteries to ensure proper blood flow.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally, taking close to 18m lives each year, and while a sedentary lifestyle, a poor diet, smoking, and drinking can all raise heart attack risk, genetics and environmental factors like air pollution can also play a critical role in increasing the chances of cardiac problems.
Loreto said his father also had a heart attack at around the same age.
He credits regular exercise with strengthening his heart enough to avoid a worse outcome, conceding that most doctors “are wonderful at taking care of others and stink at taking care of themselves”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Inflammation overlooked as common, treatable causes of heart attacks – US analysis
Fatal heart attack or stroke could be first sign of CVD in some smokers
Deaths halved among infarct patients attending ‘Heart School’
Preventative artery repair provides major benefit after serious heart attack