Cheney has 'irregular heart beat'.

[SirNitram]

Link

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, with a history of heart problems, was found to have an irregular heartbeat during a doctor's visit on Monday and went to hospital for more evaluation, his office said.

Tests determined Cheney, 66, one of President George W. Bush's closest advisers, had "atrial fibrillation, an abnormal rhythm involving the upper chambers of the heart," said Megan Mitchell, his spokeswoman.

Cheney, who had gone to see his doctors because of a lingering cough from a cold, went to the hospital for further evaluation and, if required, will have an electric impulse to the heart delivered, a standard treatment, Mitchell said.

He would be sedated for the outpatient procedure and would be expected to return home on Monday night, she said.

Atrial fibrillation is a disorder becoming increasingly common. The heart's two small upper chambers quiver instead of beating effectively and blood is not pumped completely out, so it may pool and clot, putting the person at risk of stroke.

Cheney survived four heart attacks before he became vice president. The last one, shortly after the November 2000 election, was considered mild.

More recently he was treated for a blood clot in his leg that was discovered after a trip to Asia and the Middle East.

He had his internal heart-regulating device, an implanted cardioverter defibrillator, replaced in July. The devices monitor the heart and shock it back into a normal rhythm if abnormal beating occurs.

Cheney also had surgery to treat abnormal blood vessels, or aneurysms, behind both knees in September 2005.

So, there you go. He has a heart, medically verified.

[Androsphinx]

But it needs a machine to keep it beating right. Oh, the irony.

[Shinova]

Four heart attacks, goodness sakes. And he's 66 years old? That's a lot of heart attacks for someone at a comparatively young age.

[Chardok]

Here's to hoping it's serious. It would be delicious if Darth Hugecock got a babboon heart.

[Drooling Iguana]

Wouldn't any kind of heartbeat at all be irregular for Cheney?

[DavidEC]

It sounds like: SHOOT-him...SHOOT-him...SHOOT-him...SHOOT-him...SHOOT-him

[CaptainChewbacca]

Hasn't he had an irregular heartbeat for a while now? I thought that's what pacemakers were for.

[Dark Hellion]

He had his internal heart-regulating device, an implanted cardioverter defibrillator, replaced in July. The devices monitor the heart and shock it back into a normal rhythm if abnormal beating occurs

He's more machine now than man... twisted and evil.

[Broomstick]

Four heart attacks, goodness sakes. And he's 66 years old? That's a lot of heart attacks for someone at a comparatively young age.

My mother had had at least 5 heart attacks and 2 heart surgeries by that age - it does happen to some people.

Hasn't he had an irregular heartbeat for a while now? I thought that's what pacemakers were for.

The standard defibrillator device regulates the ventricles, or lower chambers of the heart. In this case, the irregular heartbeat is coming from the atriums, or upper heart chambers.

This is not an unusual syndrome - both the elder George Bush and his wife have this condition. It's also a risk factor for blood clots, which may factor into some of Cheney's history. It is, however, unusual for someone to have quite as much cardiovascular mayhem as Cheney has had by his age.

[FSTargetDrone]

He had his internal heart-regulating device, an implanted cardioverter defibrillator, replaced in July. The devices monitor the heart and shock it back into a normal rhythm if abnormal beating occurs

He's more machine now than man... twisted and evil.

Somehow I do not think Cheney will be redeemed.

[His Divine Shadow]

I can just imagine Bush speaking infront of the white house about some new law that'll revoke some other right from the people and Cheney suddenly steps up behind Bush as he's talking on the podium and then lifts him over his head and throws him down the stairs. The exhaustion of this is too much for his heart and Cheney dies, redeemed, or something.

Too bad we can't have lightning flowing from Bush' fingers, maybe we can issue him akimbo stun guns?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I can just imagine Bush speaking infront of the white house about some new law that'll revoke some other right from the people and Cheney suddenly steps up behind Bush as he's talking on the podium and then lifts him over his head and throws him down the stairs. The exhaustion of this is too much for his heart and Cheney dies, redeemed, or something.

Too bad we can't have lightning flowing from Bush' fingers, maybe we can issue him akimbo stun guns?

The only way he will ever be redeemed, is if he dies, and takes the Bush Administration down with him, by living tonnes of juicy details about his schemes etc.

Even so, I would probably still spit and stomp his grave.

[TithonusSyndrome]

"The Dick hated civics!
The whole notion of freedom!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were to tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

- with apologies to Dr. Seuss

[Balrog]

Four heart attacks, goodness sakes. And he's 66 years old? That's a lot of heart attacks for someone at a comparatively young age.

Perhaps it's genetic?

[Broomstick]

Yes, in such cases one does have to consider genetics

[FSTargetDrone]

Whenever the president has his regular physical, information is released to the press about his general health. Far as I know, Bush is quite fit (er, physically) and has experienced relatively few medical issues while in office. He evidently exercises regularly and seems to be in good shape.

On the other hand, is any information released about Cheney? I've never seen nor heard that he does any sort of regular exercise of value. He's obviously overweight and has heart issues, but I wonder about cholesterol levels, hypertension and the like. Also, the part of the OP quote stuck out at me:

Cheney also had surgery to treat abnormal blood vessels, or aneurysms, behind both knees in September 2005.

I wonder if the issues with the blood vessels behind his knees is indicative of stress there because of the weight he carries? It seems a rather odd that this happened in two identical locations.

[FSTargetDrone]

On the other hand, is any information released about Cheney?

That should be, "any other information (about his general health)..."

[Broomstick]

On the other hand, is any information released about Cheney? I've never seen nor heard that he does any sort of regular exercise of value.

Given his medical condition, his capacity for exercise may be sharply limited.

He's obviously overweight and has heart issues, but I wonder about cholesterol levels, hypertension and the like. Also, the part of the OP quote stuck out at me:

Cheney also had surgery to treat abnormal blood vessels, or aneurysms, behind both knees in September 2005.

I wonder if the issues with the blood vessels behind his knees is indicative of stress there because of the weight he carries? It seems a rather odd that this happened in two identical locations.

It's rather odd that he needed such surgery at all - he's overweight, yes, but not morbidly obese. Double aneurysms are rare, and that he had them makes me think he might have some blood vessel or connective tissue problem contributing to his heart/circulatory problems.

[Justforfun000]

This got me to thinking.....to my knowledge, most people die of heart disease statistically, no?

Is this also true for animals as well? Obviously predators kill a lot of elderly and weak animals, but the ones that make it to "old age"...what is the most common thing that gets them? Could it be cancer?

Also, what exactly is it like to die of a heart attack. Is the attack excrutiatingly painful alll the way until you just pass out? God, it's a horrible thought to think you might have to face such an end. I hope IF I have to die (hey we all need a dream....), it would be in my sleep peacefully. But I understand that's VERY rare.....

[Broomstick]

This got me to thinking.....to my knowledge, most people die of heart disease statistically, no?

Is this also true for animals as well? Obviously predators kill a lot of elderly and weak animals, but the ones that make it to "old age"...what is the most common thing that gets them? Could it be cancer?

Statistically, the two big killers of older humans are heart disease and cancer. Pretty much, if one doesn't get you the other will.

(For young adults, the big killer is accidents)

Also, what exactly is it like to die of a heart attack. Is the attack excrutiatingly painful alll the way until you just pass out? God, it's a horrible thought to think you might have to face such an end. I hope IF I have to die (hey we all need a dream....), it would be in my sleep peacefully. But I understand that's VERY rare.....

According to my mother - who has had a half dozen heart attacks - the first few she had were excruciating. In fact, she described it as worse than labor pains in childbirth (she's had four kids, too). During her second heart surgery, however, some nerves were unintentionally severed so she no longer feels her heart attacks (hence, some uncertainty now as to exactly how many she has had). She does say that she does have radiating pain in her left arm and jaw when they occur, but it's not as bad as the crushing pain she experienced previously. There is also a sensation of suffocation, which is pretty damn unpleasent by itself.

So... based on that... for a massive heart attack there is quite a lot of severe pain ("elephant sitting on the chest" is a common description). It, however, possible to have a heart attack that causes minimal pain, but there would still be feelings of weakness and insufficient air, along with possible nausea or pain in other parts of the body. Bottom line, it's not fun. It can, however, be a relatively quick way to go, even if painful. Cancer, after all, can be horribly painful AND prolonged.

[Shroom Man 777]

Hrm...didn't Dick use to be a bodybuilder or something? Don't oversteroidificated muscular he-men tend to die from cardiac complications? Or is his problem like those well-endowed pornographic actors who collapse whenever their prodigious schlongs are activated to their fullest potentials?

[FSTargetDrone]

Not sure about Cheney's past as a bodybuilder, but I did some digging about his health and here is are some excerpts from a Vanity Fair article from May 2006 about Cheney's health:

May 02, 2006

Vanity Fair On Cheney: His Health:

Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum interviewed VP Cheney for the June issue. Some excerpts below:

"He takes a range of medications that he and his doctors decline to detail. The extent of his atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries, which, if it extends beyond the heart to the brain, can cause hard-to-recognize changes in cognition) is unknown. Bypass surgery itself has long been associated with subtle changes in neurological function."

"At age 65, Cheney is easily 30 or more pounds overweight, seems to have slacked off on what was once a more rigorous diet, and appears to suffer from recurrent bouts of gout. At a roundtable lunch
with reporters a couple of years ago, two who were present say, he cut his buffalo steak in bite-size pieces the moment it arrived, then
proceeded to salt each side of each piece."

And more interestingly is this, a collection of stories and links which goes into some detail of Cheney's medical history and was last updated in March of this year.

This came from one of the links in the above site:

Politics

June 2004

Atlantic Monthly

Is Dick Cheney physically a good risk as Vice President? Seven cardiologists weigh in

by Howard Markel

The Heart of the Matter

...

(Cheney's) medical history is sobering. Cheney has suffered four heart attacks in the past twenty-six years. The first came when he was only thirty-seven, the second when he was forty-three, the third when he was forty-seven, and the fourth when he was fifty-nine—only two weeks after the stressful election of 2000. In 1978, shortly after his first heart attack, when the gravity of his condition had become apparent, Cheney quit smoking cigarettes, at least for a time (he had taken up the habit in his late teens and at its peak smoked three packs a day). After his third attack, in 1988, he had surgery: a quadruple coronary-artery bypass. He did remarkably well for the next twelve years, even though, according to one report, he exercised only twice a week and gained forty pounds.

Immediately after Cheney's fourth heart attack doctors inserted a stainless-steel stent in one of his most severely compromised vessels. Unfortunately, about three months later, as happens about 25 percent of the time, the stent became blocked, and to reopen it doctors performed an angioplasty. In June of 2001 a thirty-four-hour electrocardiogram demonstrated an abnormal heart rhythm; at the end of that month his doctors implanted under the skin of his chest a cardioverter defibrillator, which shocks the heart back into a normal rhythm in the event of a potentially deadly arrhythmia. Since that time Cheney has been on a strict dietary regimen (although he is still overweight), a routine of daily exercise, medications to significantly lower his blood pressure and cholesterol, and a daily dose of aspirin to prevent blood clots. By official accounts, since his last procedure he has had three routine checkups (in February and September of 2002 and July of 2003), each of which included an electrocardiogram, a stress test, and an echocardiogram.

Given the extent of Cheney's history of severe coronary-artery disease and multiple heart attacks, many have raised concerns about his present condition (which could put the speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, within a heartbeat of the presidency); about his physical fitness to run again for Vice President; and, of course, about his ability to run the country if President Bush died or were incapacitated.

With this in mind I interviewed seven prominent cardiologists who practice at major academic medical centers in the United States and conduct advanced research on heart disease. After promising not to name these doctors but receiving permission to quote their impressions, I gave each of them Cheney's medical history. Initially I identified Cheney only as a nameless high-level executive with a stressful and remarkably demanding job that involved a great deal of travel, late nights, and frequent crises. Only after they had expressed their medical opinions did I tell the doctors who the patient was, and ask if they would change their assessments. None did.

Although our discussions hardly met the rigorous criteria of an opinion-research poll, all seven cardiologists concurred that the subject was at significantly higher risk for premature death from a heart attack than the average sixty-three-year-old American male. (Upon learning that the patient was Cheney, a cardiologist from Boston observed, "It's a pretty impressive history. I had no idea he'd had all this happen to him," and added, "It's a testament to medical science that he's alive.") All seven did note, however, that although the subject's condition—which doctors call "malignant atherosclerosis"—was hardly characteristic of patients in their practices, his situation is not uncommon. They agreed that his treatment regimen was appropriate.

[Broomstick]

Given the age of on-set of heart attacks/severe symptoms, I have to wonder if he suffers from the same cholesterol-processing defect my mother does - in which case it was inevitable he was going to suffer from heart disease from a young age. Of course, aggressive management can mitigate the worst of this sort of thing - I have a sister with the same condition who, thanks to treatment starting in her 20's, is almost 50 and has not suffered a heart attack (yet), although she, too, has an implanted defibrillator due to an abnormal heart rhythm.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I doubt he intends to live very long beyond leaving the Vice Presidency, anyway; he is at the pinnacle of his career. Everything after that will be downhill. Having left his mark on the world he will likely die in less than half a decade, or even sooner than that.

[Patrick Degan]

The heart problem is merely the official explanation to cover up the more likely problem: that he was accidently exposed to direct sunlight for longer than a minute or two. Quite fatal to his kind.