43 replies to this topic

[BigBang]

Hi guys, call me cynical if you like, but i agree with Stuart. A very far fetched story if you ask me.

Firstly its very unlikely for a 25YO to have a heart attack (but not impossible, i know).

Secondly, if i was in the presence of somebody with chest pains, the first thing i would do is call for help, not go on the net and then to my lab to make NG!

Thirdly, you'd be hard pressed to make the stuff in that short space of time.....even if you had the chems to hand. Ive made this in the distant past, and its quite nerve racking, and thats doing it slowly!! Its not something that can be rushed, unless you dont value your life.

As far as im concerned, the jurys still out on this one.

[karlfoxman]

I agree with you, it sounds unlikely to me too. I would never drink/eat anything i made in the lab as its just too risky. If you ask me NG is NG and highly dangerous stuff. I still think you have broken the forum rules!

[Pieman]

Not exactly to do with the topic but this thread reminded me of a biology lecture I attended last year. We were studying myocardial infarctions (posh name for heart attacks) and possible treatments and to my suprise I discovered that warfarin is commonly used to stop bloodclots growing. Warfarin is more commonly associated with rat poison! (just a quick disclaimer: if you chest hurts seek proper medical advice rather than jumping for your nearest rat trap!)

[p_y_r_o]

Its not something that can be rushed, unless you dont value your life.

I'm sure he values the life of his brother a lot and would be quite willing to risk his own life to save his brothers!

If the story was true.

[adamw]

OK, conspiracy theories aside, let's calm down with this now.

PyromaniaMan, if you can prove this actually occured, then please do so (medical reports, statements etc etc).

Otherwise, as others have summised, we will have to take this as a hoax.

[pyromedic]

Many people?s heart attacks last for hours, just because you are having a heart attack it does not mean your heat stops pumping blood round the body. In the majority of cases (early on when the victim does not know he/she has a heart condition) they liken it to f*ck off bad heart burn/indigestion, it often passes within 30mins or so for mild cases. The heart sorts it self out eventually, but this is the place for the NG spray, it stops it immediately. It is, contrary to popular believe, quite rare for someone to go, "ughh", grip their chest and keel over dead. There are millions of people that suffer from myocardial infarctions, but cardiac arrest, although more likely for people who have a history of angina, caused by ventricular fibrillation is rare compared to the number of mild heart attacks.

Terminology:- Myocardial Infarction, The blockage of an artery in the heart that leads to oxygen starvation of a part of the heart muscle and eventually death of that part of the muscle, approx 4-6 hours time duration. Depending on where the blockage occurs, this can affect up to 70% of the heart muscle from 1 blockage, if this is not rectified quickly the heart will not be able to function and will stop (cardiac arrest)



Figures show that 1 in 5 people that have a true heart attack will go into cardiac arrest and die if not treated!!!!


Speaking from the standpoint of a paramedic who deals with these matters daily. If this man was having a true Myocardial Infarction (MI) also known as a heart attack, GTN or any nitrocellulose base would not help. I have attended to people who have used whole bottles of GTN spray to try to alleviate the symptoms. GTN only alleviates the syptoms of mild to moderate angina. The only way to help is a combination of anticoagulant therapy (heparin or warfarin) and thrombolytic (Streptocarnase or Tenecteplase). This stops further clotting (anticoagulant) and breaks up the clot that has already formed (thrombolytic). These are the treatments used in the UK by paramedics in the patients house or back of ambulance before they reach hospital. Just to let you know on cost Heparin -approx 45p per dose Tenecteplase ?493 per dose!!!!

[Rhodri]

Well everyone - that seems fairly closed to me. We now have an expert on board!

[adamw]

How handy and coincidental!

[Phoenix]

These are the treatments used in the UK by paramedics in the patients house or back of ambulance before they reach hospital. Just to let you know on cost Heparin -approx 45p per dose Tenecteplase ?493 per dose!!!!

That reminds me of a fairly amusing (particularly so for a chemistry geek such as myself) sketch on The Now Show on Radio 4 yesterday - basically pointing out the absurdity of people paying three times as much for Nurofen as they'd have to for own brand ibuprofen. Great line about "the cheap oxygen from Eastern Europe, with the re-sprayed protons"....

[EnigmaticBiker]

That reminds me of a fairly amusing (particularly so for a chemistry geek such as myself) sketch on The Now Show on Radio 4 yesterday - basically pointing out the absurdity of people paying three times as much for Nurofen as they'd have to for own brand ibuprofen. Great line about "the cheap oxygen from Eastern Europe, with the re-sprayed protons"....

Yes indeed, picked out that line myself.

It's so true, probably resprayed with cheap artificially flavoured quarks.

[BigBang]

Hey Enigmaticbiker......just wondered why you have such small font size?? I can quite happily read the normal print, then i get to your posts and the glasses have to come out....!!

Edited by BigBang, 22 April 2006 - 03:23 PM.

[EnigmaticBiker]

Hey Enigmaticbiker......just wondered why you have such small font size?? I can quite happily read the normal print, then i get to your posts and the glasses have to come out....!!

I usually like that particular serif font to write in, but it is automatically small and I'm usually too lazy to resize it.

[BigBang]

Oh wow...thats better, i can read that with no glasses or straining of the eyes....!!

[GBthriller]

Well well well.

Arent we the "Doubting Thomas" forum?

Just so you'll know, I had EXACTLY the same thing happen at my house last week. With a few differences:

My 25 year old sister had just finished a plate of pork ribs as well. Being Americans, we never know when to stop eating, so she decided to finish off her dinner experience with a watermelon. Portion control is lacking here in the states so she just unhinged her jaw and tried to swallow it whole. Her eyes were all bugged out for three or so minutes and then I noticed she started to get pale.

Immediatly, I went to the internet, well, I had to upgrade my version of "Windows" first, this took about a week to get the bugs out before I could get dialed up. Then of course, I had to download updates and patches, add virus protection etc, etc, etc. Now that my computer was up to speed and Bill Gates was deeper into my wallet, I could attend to my dear, dear, sissy (who in the mean time turned 26 years old but is still pale with a watermelon in her throat).

I found a site that deals with clogged pipes, so following the directions, I poured MY drain cleaner into her. This proved foolish as the watermelon rind seemed quite impervious to the baking soda. (What? I dont keep harsh chemicals around here!)

The answer came from a different web site, and made me wonder why I hadnt thought of it in the first place: The Heimlich maneuver. But you see Sissy is a large gal, collectively we couldnt get our arms around her, so we did the next best thing...

*sigh* I'm tired of this already, you finish it. Sorry.

GBThriller

Edited by GBthriller, 23 April 2006 - 06:10 AM.