Dick Cheney in High-Risk Heart Category
Dick Cheney in High-Risk Heart Category
July 25, 2000 -- Heart trouble didn't keep Lyndon B. Johnson from sharing a national ticket 40 years ago -- and it may not have an effect on Dick Cheney's ability to do the same this election year. But one cardiologist contacted by WebMD says it's not uncommon for patients in Cheney's position to require additional heart surgery -- and to be at greater risk of dying from heart disease at a younger age.
Cheney, George W. Bush's vice-presidential running mate, suffered a series of three heart attacks beginning in 1978, when he was just 37 years old. After the last one, in 1988, the former congressman underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery. Since then, he's apparently had no heart problems -- and that included a period in which he served as secretary of defense during the Persian Gulf War.
"I would have some concern about a candidate with known coronary artery disease," says Stephen Manoukian, MD, a cardiologist at Emory University in Atlanta. "But I would probably look at the qualities of the candidate first, their medical problems second. There's no question his heart disease is important. But you have to consider his" ability to function. By many accounts, so far it has been good.
Still, Manoukian says patients who fit Cheney's health profile could develop symptoms if subjected to a high-stress situation, such as a national campaign. "A campaign is a very physically and mentally challenging activity, and it puts a significant stress on the heart. We often see at times of physical and mental stress that people with heart disease tend to have more" problems with their hearts.
And make no mistake about it, Manoukian says, Cheney still technically has heart disease -- despite his successful surgery. "I would not equate heart disease with cancer -- but maybe with a treated cancer. [Heart disease] does not get cured."
In fact, bypass surgeries are commonly performed again on some patients within 10 or 20 years. Manoukian says it's mainly because veins taken from other parts of the body to create the bypass tend to wear out. "Usually, strips of vein from the leg or strips of artery are used to reroute around the blockage. Veins are a very low-pressure, low stress conduit. When you put them on the aortic [arterial] side of the body, they become a high-stress, high-flow tube. That causes them to have higher wear and tear."
Dick Cheney in High-Risk Heart Category
July 25, 2000 -- Heart trouble didn't keep Lyndon B. Johnson from sharing a national ticket 40 years ago -- and it may not have an effect on Dick Cheney's ability to do the same this election year. But one cardiologist contacted by WebMD says it's not uncommon for patients in Cheney's position to require additional heart surgery -- and to be at greater risk of dying from heart disease at a younger age.
Cheney, George W. Bush's vice-presidential running mate, suffered a series of three heart attacks beginning in 1978, when he was just 37 years old. After the last one, in 1988, the former congressman underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery. Since then, he's apparently had no heart problems -- and that included a period in which he served as secretary of defense during the Persian Gulf War.
"I would have some concern about a candidate with known coronary artery disease," says Stephen Manoukian, MD, a cardiologist at Emory University in Atlanta. "But I would probably look at the qualities of the candidate first, their medical problems second. There's no question his heart disease is important. But you have to consider his" ability to function. By many accounts, so far it has been good.
Still, Manoukian says patients who fit Cheney's health profile could develop symptoms if subjected to a high-stress situation, such as a national campaign. "A campaign is a very physically and mentally challenging activity, and it puts a significant stress on the heart. We often see at times of physical and mental stress that people with heart disease tend to have more" problems with their hearts.
And make no mistake about it, Manoukian says, Cheney still technically has heart disease -- despite his successful surgery. "I would not equate heart disease with cancer -- but maybe with a treated cancer. [Heart disease] does not get cured."
In fact, bypass surgeries are commonly performed again on some patients within 10 or 20 years. Manoukian says it's mainly because veins taken from other parts of the body to create the bypass tend to wear out. "Usually, strips of vein from the leg or strips of artery are used to reroute around the blockage. Veins are a very low-pressure, low stress conduit. When you put them on the aortic [arterial] side of the body, they become a high-stress, high-flow tube. That causes them to have higher wear and tear."
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