How Do Surgeons And Morticians Know That Someone Has Suffered 2,3,10 Or 100 Heart Attacks?

[Thirdamigo]

There's hardly a numeric counter on their chests...

[anneasquith]

Access the damage done to the heart muscle , infarctions .

[douglas9401]

Either

Signs of tissue damage, obvious at post mortem
or
They ask the spirit of the departed through a Home Office licensed medium

[Thirdamigo]

So these "Infarctions" are literally a biologic numeral counter?

How reliable are they =?

[Buenchico]

They look for the evidence of myocardial infarctions.

Start here
http://www.medicinenet.com/heart_attack_pathology_photo_essay/article.htm
and pay particular attention to what's on Page 4 of the article.

[Thirdamigo]

"They ask the spirit of the departed through a Home Office licensed medium"

JESUS CHRIST!

[Mamyalynne]

After tests a Doctor may well see signs of previous damage but would be unlikely to give an accurate number.

[douglas9401]

I doubt it Pedro, it'll be delegated.

[Thirdamigo]

Sorry douglas i hit send accidentally.

I was at a mediums yesterday with my lady and have been sceptical about this so but didn't mention anything to the medium but halfway through my ladys reading she suddenly pointed at me randomly and said "You will have proof tomorrow!"

I don't know what to make of this now.

[Mamyalynne]

Proof of the number of heart attacks?

You holding a sweepstake?

[Davemano]

A heart surgeon would say that you can only suffer one heart attack and the result is death. Heart 'failures' are what people get.

[Peter Pedant]

morticians wont of course - they just sortta stuff a dead body - at least fro Dexter I think they do / did
and surgeons kinda operate on live people
coz dead people cant pay - so surgeons dont either
( youre not in the UK are you ?)

but pathologists - or morbid anatomists - could .... 1) read the notes
2) take out the heart - it doesnt matter since the fella is dead and certainly is after this - and slice it - the dead bit ( infarction ) is pale in comparison. then it will be a bit squidgy, then the area will be fibrosed ( while and grisly ) as time ticks on in weeks
so you count em up ( the areas of damage ) - and the stage will give when each happened. 100 sounds like well over-kill

someone croaking within 30s - well you cant cram 100 infarctions into a 30s space can you ? may well have no changes at all
( that is because death here is physiological and there may be no anatomical change - well you did ask and I havent finished yet)

and finally you can cut transversely along the coronary arteries of which there are usually two, in the dead person and see if there is any block ( atheroma to us morbid anatomists ) . Again in the acute phase the first block is a clump of platelets and there may be nothing to show for this under the blade - beside the old changes of atheroma

double counting - nope once a bit of heart is dead it is dead
so you cant re- kill it - anything else will affect a different bit of the heart.

and you know what aubrey leatham used to say in the 60s ?
'You shouldnt use the word "reinfarction" - the phrase is "further infarction". - that was because you cant kill a dead bit of muscle again. we all thought he was an old bugga

bit of a technical answer
but you did ask

[Thirdamigo]

Thanks chico, your link says

"Yes. Not uncommonly, people with coronary artery disease have more than one heart attack over the years. In fact, by looking at the heart tissue at autopsy, pathologists can tell when myocardial infarctions occurred. Thus, very recent (acute, hours old) infarctions may appear as a pale brown region, infarctions days old (subacute) appear yellow, and healed (weeks to years old) infarctions appear as white scars in the heart muscle. Figure 5 shows three myocardial infarctions of different ages in the muscle of a left ventricle"

But david says "A heart surgeon would say that you can only suffer one heart attack and the result is death. Heart 'failures' are what people get. "

David have you got a link, or maybe chico's link means after death, and david, your info means whilst still alive but i'm pretty sure I've read that surgeons have told living patients that they've "suffered a minor heart attack" during post conversations in hospital.

Is that correct?

[Togo]

Haha pp you are all "heart".

[Peter Pedant]

well I dont score too badly on Chris' BC URL
I even get the three phases

The home office certified medium is a JOKE amigo
Mediums dont work Amigo- they take money off gullible people

A medium had my father as a lancashire mill owner whereas he was really born in Lourenco Marques and never owned a mill.

[Peter Pedant]

// David have you got a link,//
no there is no link for this as it is untrue

and if there is a link - er it is still untrue ....

and yes you will have heard a surgeon say - you have suffered a small heart attack.....

[Togo]

Acacias all wondering, that is in Mozambique. ^^Exotica erotica. :))

[Davemano]

Thirdamigo - No link, my own personal experience having had stents fitted. When speaking with consultants on other matters and mention my stents, I am quickly told that I haven't had a heart attack or I would be dead, and that what I'd had was heart failure.

[Thirdamigo]

Peter, i like the cut of your gib, but not a "Cut of your giblets"

See what i did there^?

I am a dexter fan ( and so is mamya by her suggestion of betting on a heart attack) and in the UK, but wasn't for many seconds earlier today with my son who really asks the weirdest questions which are soo obscure, obtuse and literally of the wall i often carry them for weeks if not months on end trying to get answers and epic failing across many sites

[anneasquith]

Peter, I just adore you're reply ;-)

[Peter Pedant]

Dave if Amigo has been stented then he should be addressing these pressing questions to his cardiologist and not us ....