[lazyasciiart]

I had a heart attack at 35, despite not really having other risks. A sibling who had a heart attack is the biggest risk factor, but later my sister did not qualify for a study on heart attack risk because she was only 39.

My ER notes literally say “can’t be a heart attack but that’s what it looks like, so we’ll treat it as one for now”, which is a little unnerving.

[rscho]

> is a little unnerving

Why so? You were lucky! You had a low probability for the diagnosis, but the doc made the right decision. That's to be celebrated.

> did not qualify for a study on heart attack risk because she was only 39.

Criteria for studies are designed to test a specific hypothesis. There are many possible reasons why your sister was not eligible, and not all of them bad.

[yapyap]

> Why so? You were lucky! You had a low probability for the diagnosis, but the doc made the right decision. That's to be celebrated

cause they still said “can’t”

[rscho]

If this doc meant it in the literal sense of 'can't', why go through with the workup, then? This is IMO evidence that the doc meant 'very unlikely, but let's check'. I agree words are important, but still the right decision was made and that's cool.

[rendaw]

I think the issue is "can't" is present tense, and the conclusion _after_ treating. In otherwords, they still think it isn't a heart attack.

[lazyasciiart]

Yes. It is unnerving to see how strong a role “luck” played in getting me treated.

She did not qualify because she was not have any risk factors, defined as being over 40, overweight, high cholesterol, or metabolic disorder. If she had been 41 she would have qualified.