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FarLeftFist

(6,161 posts)
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 04:39 PM Feb 2012

Man suffers heart attack while eating at Heart Attack Grill

Millions of Americans watch what they eat. But one Las Vegas man has painfully discovered that where you eat can have a big impact on your health as well. In a story almost too bizarre to be true, a man suffered a heart attack after eating a "triple bypass burger" at the Heart Attack Grill in downtown Las Vegas, local affiliate Fox5 reports.

As comically tragic as that may sound, no one can sue the restaurant for not issuing fair warning. Its website proudly proclaims the menu offers, "Taste Worth Dying For!" (Fortunately, the man in question survived his attack.)

Still, it was the first actual known cardiac incident at the Heart Attack Grill. "He was having the sweats and shaking," "Nurse" Bridgett, who was working at the restaurant at the time of the incident, told Fox5. (Employees at the restaurant are given fake medical titles, including the establishment's owner, "Doctor" Jon Basso.)

"I actually felt horrible for the gentleman because the tourists were taking photos of him as if it were some type of stunt. Even with our own morbid sense of humor, we would never pull a stunt like that," Bosso told Fox5. "He was sweating, suffering. Anyone with an ounce of compassion would've felt for him."

Apparently there is video as well: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/man-suffers-heart-attack-while-eating-heart-attack-185717972.html

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Man suffers heart attack while eating at Heart Attack Grill (Original Post) FarLeftFist Feb 2012 OP
Sit and deliver Blue Owl Feb 2012 #1
well, yesphan Feb 2012 #2
To use a quote from Hank Hill: "I don't know whether to laugh or vomit." Initech Feb 2012 #3
Ive seen that place on one of those food shows quinnox Feb 2012 #4
I remember... physioex Feb 2012 #11
I'm sorry but I'm laughing Richardo Feb 2012 #5
I bet they wanted to stuff and mount him on their wall. WingDinger Feb 2012 #6
Well, at least the restaurant lived up to its name. n/t RebelOne Feb 2012 #7
And Americans wonder why the rest of the world thinks we're idiots... Champion Jack Feb 2012 #8
I always figured it was for the same reason whistler162 Feb 2012 #41
Did they comp his meal? Ikonoklast Feb 2012 #9
Ironically... physioex Feb 2012 #13
If this doesn't prove Darwin nothing will....EOM physioex Feb 2012 #10
Truth in advertising. Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2012 #12
"In a story almost too bizarre to be true" EOTE Feb 2012 #14
Who could have foreseen this, really? Nuclear Unicorn Feb 2012 #15
"Nurse" Bridgett felt horrible? Why? gratuitous Feb 2012 #16
Amazingly, millions of Americans eat deep fried bar food regularly and manage not to die. dmallind Feb 2012 #17
Of course, because what you eat has nothing at all to do with your health. Liquorice Feb 2012 #25
You are joking right? EOM physioex Feb 2012 #28
I think you know zip about heart disease and nutrition. kwassa Feb 2012 #32
yes but one can eat a greasy burger every now and again if they eat properly most of the time,right? dionysus Feb 2012 #38
U-S-A! U-S-A! Arugula Latte Feb 2012 #18
I'm going to Vegas the beginning of April ... meegbear Feb 2012 #19
I hope they add CPR posters and portable defibrillators to the decor Motown_Johnny Feb 2012 #20
Believe they already do, actually. Ikonoklast Feb 2012 #21
So did he get a triple bypass? LiberalEsto Feb 2012 #22
Yes....with fries! WinkyDink Feb 2012 #46
Sorry. Fox people don't feel for people. Gold Metal Flake Feb 2012 #23
He's going to sue before he's discharged from the hospital. no_hypocrisy Feb 2012 #24
I wonder why some people find the theme of this Liquorice Feb 2012 #26
Actually, insulin shot cake is kind of funny. So would a Cancer Special that involved barbequed Evoman Feb 2012 #33
Or the torture burger stacked on a torture burger slathered in excess jsmirman Feb 2012 #34
I'm a vegan, so I know where you're coming from. The abuse Liquorice Feb 2012 #35
Gluttony jsmirman Feb 2012 #36
Hah!! Talk about GMO! nt Lucky Luciano Feb 2012 #51
Because STUPID IS as STUPID DOES. And that is funny! WinkyDink Feb 2012 #44
He can't sue for false advertising. LisaL Feb 2012 #27
People die exercising everyday too. former9thward Feb 2012 #29
Yes, just because he had a heart attack while eating a triple bypass burger Liquorice Feb 2012 #30
You don't think there is irony when someone dies exercising? former9thward Feb 2012 #31
Heart attacks are usually caused by coronary artery disease. Liquorice Feb 2012 #39
They want to be proud of their shitty eating habits alcibiades_mystery Feb 2012 #40
I would love to see your eating habits and other lifestyle choices. former9thward Feb 2012 #43
You just made a completely unsubstantiated claim. kwassa Feb 2012 #49
Unsubstaniated? former9thward Feb 2012 #50
You never asked the question. If you want an answer, ask the question. kwassa Feb 2012 #52
I want the truth not "an answer". former9thward Feb 2012 #53
Um, yeah. Except no. He didn't eat the burger and get hit by a car. He gorged and stressed his HEART WinkyDink Feb 2012 #45
Um no. former9thward Feb 2012 #47
Um, a high-fat meal quadruples your risk of a heart attack in the two hours after eating it. Liquorice Feb 2012 #55
Your first link said nothing about people with heart disease. former9thward Feb 2012 #56
I wonder if they'll let him become the grill's official spokesman. Crunchy Frog Feb 2012 #37
They got the wrong nurse. They shoulda hired... pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #42
Not sure if they are related Nikia Feb 2012 #48
Trust me, you don't want to know... zappaman Feb 2012 #54
Word to the wise: Never order the Explosive Enchilada when you're there. Arugula Latte Feb 2012 #57
 

quinnox

(20,600 posts)
4. Ive seen that place on one of those food shows
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 04:45 PM
Feb 2012

That is funny in a black humor way, and ironic. At least the guy survived his burger experience.

 

whistler162

(11,155 posts)
41. I always figured it was for the same reason
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 07:49 AM
Feb 2012

we think the rest of the nations ion the world are idiots.

We don't want to look at our selves and realize we are just as idiotic as the next country.

EOTE

(13,409 posts)
14. "In a story almost too bizarre to be true"
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 04:59 PM
Feb 2012

Errr, I'm sorry, I meant to say "In a story I can't believe doesn't happen far more frequently."

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
16. "Nurse" Bridgett felt horrible? Why?
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 05:07 PM
Feb 2012

Oh, because the guy had the bad taste to suffer his cardiac episode right there in the restaurant instead of somewhere else. Very gauche.

On the other hand, perhaps "Nurse" Bridgett will reconsider her career choices and decide to work in an establishment not quite so celebratory of its inimical effects on its patrons. Her concern makes me think she could actually be a nice person who doesn't really want people to have heart attacks.

dmallind

(10,437 posts)
17. Amazingly, millions of Americans eat deep fried bar food regularly and manage not to die.
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 05:10 PM
Feb 2012

And given the obesity impact on longevity is no more than a handful of years in almost all subgroups, that's not really a surprise.

But holier than thouism reigns as usual here.

I'm pretty sure I can find cases of people having heart attacks while eating salad. What would that show? Oh yeah....bugger all. Just like this.

Liquorice

(2,066 posts)
25. Of course, because what you eat has nothing at all to do with your health.
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 06:55 PM
Feb 2012
And the fact that millions of Americans eat deep fried food AND have heart disease is TOTALLY unrelated.

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
32. I think you know zip about heart disease and nutrition.
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 08:28 PM
Feb 2012

It has nothing to do with holiness, it has a great deal to do with intelligent, rational decisions about food consumption. I once heard that atheists were very rational people.

People don't get heart attacks from eating too much salad. A lifetime of eating saturated fat, trans fat, getting no exercise and being overweight .... a different outcome.

dionysus

(26,467 posts)
38. yes but one can eat a greasy burger every now and again if they eat properly most of the time,right?
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 01:52 AM
Feb 2012

this guy however...

 

Motown_Johnny

(22,308 posts)
20. I hope they add CPR posters and portable defibrillators to the decor
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 05:24 PM
Feb 2012

They would fit in well and just might save a life someday.

Ikonoklast

(23,973 posts)
21. Believe they already do, actually.
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 05:37 PM
Feb 2012


At least no one can say they aren't telling the truth about the cuisine.

They have a crash cart on premises that doubles as a dessert caddy.

Liquorice

(2,066 posts)
26. I wonder why some people find the theme of this
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 07:01 PM
Feb 2012

restaurant to be funny... For some reason eating a triple bypass burger and flatline fries is hilarious, but I bet they wouldn't think it was funny to eat a cancer sandwich and Insulin Shot cake.

Just something I've been thinking about since I heard the story...

Evoman

(8,040 posts)
33. Actually, insulin shot cake is kind of funny. So would a Cancer Special that involved barbequed
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 08:28 PM
Feb 2012

or smoked meat.

Hell, I HAVE cancer and I find it funny. But I'm horribly morbid, so there you go.

jsmirman

(4,507 posts)
34. Or the torture burger stacked on a torture burger slathered in excess
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 10:53 PM
Feb 2012

As an animal advocate, you know what I'm absolutely positive isn't fucking funny? Gluttony.

The American food industry is bad enough. It's just awesome that people don't give a flip that the animals that go into the food on their plates live the entirety of their short lives in miserable conditions that no one on this board (including myself) could handle over a long afternoon without going insane.

Our food system is awash in cruelty, it doesn't give a rip about your health or your safety (deplorably unsanitary conditions, diseased and mistreated pigs, cows, and chickens ending up on your table), and it is destroying our environment (harmful waste poisoning soil and water systems). Things have gotten so out of control that the Minnesota Pork Producers Association has to (help) fund University of Minnesota researchers who are trying to figure out how to deal with the slushy pink pig waste foam that forms atop manure lagoons and congeals under the eaves of factory barn roofs and THEN EXPLODES ENTIRE BARNS when the trapped methane gases have had enough.

And if you're not absolutely sure where your food came from, it came from one of these exemplars of sociopathic capitalism, corporate greed, and the heck with the consumer economics. By 2007, the top four U.S. pork producers – all practitioners of factory farming – already controlled 66% of the entire market for pig products. A more recent authoritative study on the cattle industry found four companies control more than three quarters of that market. Three companies control more than half the poultry market, and the top ten producers' market share exceeds 75%.

So when people think it's great or hilarious to needlessly consume animals that suffered to feed them, it makes me pretty angry.

Liquorice

(2,066 posts)
35. I'm a vegan, so I know where you're coming from. The abuse
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 11:53 PM
Feb 2012

of animals in the meat-eating culture is horrendous. But far too many people enjoy eating meat, and I don't see that ever changing. One thing that might make a big difference in the future is meat grown in laboratories (cultured meat). If you've never heard of it before, I know it might sounds crazy and meat-eaters claim they'll never eat it, but I think eventually people will eat meat that never involved the killing of an animal. Cultured meat would also have no negative impact on our environment and would dramatically change our culture entirely.

Here are a couple of interesting articles about it in case you haven't heard about it yet:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2087837/Test-tube-meat-reality-year-scientists-work-make-profitable.html

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/01/peta-offers-1-million-for-successful-lab-grown-chicken/

jsmirman

(4,507 posts)
36. Gluttony
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 01:11 AM
Feb 2012

I'd like to at a minimum speak against. And I say that as one who was a glutton.

But back to that in a second.

I have, indeed, heard about this cultured meat stuff, as animal advocacy issues occupy a very large part of my days/consciousness. I still care about other important stuff like, you know, people, but this is a fight I intend to be a soldier in one way or another. There will be arguments back and forth about cultured meat, and people are certainly going to see this all going down the path that takes us to Firefly (the show) where "real food" doesn't exist any longer. For me, I think, sure, it's worth exploring. Removing the damage to our environment is very important to me. There's some places out west, I think, as well, that are experimenting with shrimp farms that are not ecologically harmful. Many animal advocates would disagree with me on this - and I may very well come to think I'm wrong, but honestly, so long as there's no prolonging of the moment of death or the like, I could handle regularly eating shrimp raised in this fashion. I may not have thought that position out well enough, but that's my gut reaction to ecologically-sound shrimp farming. The current shrimp industry, though, from what I understand, is an ecological menace...

I know that personally, I just reached a point where I could no longer participate in a food economy where torture of the animals was the norm and where unsafe conditions and environmental roulette were part of the industry doing business. It's been more than three years now since I stopped.

Back to gluttony, I know people "enjoy" eating meat, and you and I both have our thoughts on that, and I think people should only eat meat if they go to the actual farm where it is being raised and decide that they are comfortable with what is happening (and I'm not suggesting that this is in any way impossible, particularly with *real* local farms - but I think most meat eaters couldn't spend a day inside a factory farm and continue as they were). I'm obviously not in charge, so that's just my opinion, but it doesn't seem that unreasonable (to me).

But gluttony is wrong. In my meat-eating days I used to think it was some kind of feat to eat football player-sized men under the table - I could similarly drink beer prodigiously way back when. That's a hard memory to deal with. It wasn't funny. It was wrong. Unless people move over to veganism, it's obviously about where you draw the line. Is it at baby calves separated from their mothers and jammed into veal crates for some number of months before slaughter? Is it a chicken living in a space smaller than half of an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper for all of its life, or is it horrifying mechanical beak removal? I know no one is going to be berated into going vegan, but I damn sure will raise a ruckus about the evil ag giants industrializing suffering and perverting the word "farm." That's hardcore corporate fuckery, and when you add in the games they play with their consumers' health, and their shitty labor practices, it should be a pretty DU-friendly topic, imo.

But gluttony? Gluttony, no. If you spend even a moment thinking about what your food was, where it came from, what that bite at the end of your fork not only represents, but what it is, I just don't see how you could continue to give gluttony a pass. I'm definitely among those who see eating less meat as healthy and a step toward being more humane; I'm pretty certain that gorging one's self indiscriminately on chickens, pigs, cows, etc. is a step in the wrong direction.

Oh, and thanks for the links - the second one is directly relevant to a conversation I had with a friend the other night, and I'm going to forward him your link.

former9thward

(32,002 posts)
29. People die exercising everyday too.
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 08:03 PM
Feb 2012

If you want to create broadbrush conclusions there are a lot of ways to go.

Liquorice

(2,066 posts)
30. Yes, just because he had a heart attack while eating a triple bypass burger
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 08:10 PM
Feb 2012

doesn't mean the two things are related or anything. Nope, no irony here.

former9thward

(32,002 posts)
31. You don't think there is irony when someone dies exercising?
Wed Feb 15, 2012, 08:22 PM
Feb 2012

You don't think the stress of exercise may be related? There may be irony of a heart attack while eating a triple bypass burger but it is highly unlikely the two were related. Heart attacks come from a build up of heart disease not from what you are eating at the moment. The only heart attacks that I am aware of from the immediate ingestion of something is snorting large amounts of coke or similar.

Liquorice

(2,066 posts)
39. Heart attacks are usually caused by coronary artery disease.
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 02:31 AM
Feb 2012

Coronary artery disease is caused mainly by diet coupled with a predisposition to CAD. CAD is not caused by exercise. When a person has a heart attack while exercising it is usually because they have CAD and plaque in their artery has ruptured and is blocking blood flow. So while on the surface it is ironic for someone who is exercising to have a heart attack, many people who exercise have poor diets and might be exercising to manage their heart disease. So if you look at it that way, it's not really that ironic at all if someone has a heart attack while exercising.

However, eating something that is named after a medical procedure people get for heart disease, a triple bypass, and having a heart attack while eating it is ironic.

And while one large meal will not give you heart disease (CAD is from years of eating a poor diet), a large high-fat meal can cause a heart attack if you already have heart disease. In fact, one large meal that is high in fat, like the triple bypass burger, quadruples a person's chances of having a heart attack within two hours of eating it.

 

alcibiades_mystery

(36,437 posts)
40. They want to be proud of their shitty eating habits
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 02:46 AM
Feb 2012

and to scoff at the "nanny-staters" who want to take away their "freedoms."

If they weren't costing us all billions of dollars a year through their utter gullibility to the sales pitches of the heart disease and cancer merchants, it would almost be fine to say, "Whatever, yo, eat your shit and die." Imagine all the shit we could do as a society if the ad men of the various heart disease merchants weren't so good at fooling these people into thinking that their own meaningless deaths were some form of rebellion against authority.

former9thward

(32,002 posts)
43. I would love to see your eating habits and other lifestyle choices.
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 11:22 AM
Feb 2012

But the 'tut-tuters' never reveal what they do or else they lie about it.

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
49. You just made a completely unsubstantiated claim.
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 01:01 PM
Feb 2012

That we don't reveal what we eat, and if we do, we lie.

Can't win, can we, in your fictional universe?

former9thward

(32,002 posts)
50. Unsubstaniated?
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 01:37 PM
Feb 2012

I don't see any of the tut-tut posters saying what they eat and what their lifestyle is. It is called hypocrisy. Their lifestyle is the best and the only one everyone should follow. If only everyone was as smart as they are!

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
52. You never asked the question. If you want an answer, ask the question.
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 09:00 PM
Feb 2012

There is no hypocrisy without anyone taking a stand in the first place. You assume a whole hell of a lot.

 

WinkyDink

(51,311 posts)
45. Um, yeah. Except no. He didn't eat the burger and get hit by a car. He gorged and stressed his HEART
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 11:25 AM
Feb 2012

former9thward

(32,002 posts)
47. Um no.
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 11:30 AM
Feb 2012

Eating a certain type of meal will not give you a heart attack. If he was 'ready' to have a heart attack he would have had it if he was eating a bunch of celery.

Liquorice

(2,066 posts)
55. Um, a high-fat meal quadruples your risk of a heart attack in the two hours after eating it.
Fri Feb 17, 2012, 12:11 AM
Feb 2012

That is according to doctors and researchers in the field. But I guess you know better.

A high-fat meal can spark a dramatic rise in a blood coagulation factor, which may increase the risk of death from heart disease and stroke, researchers report in this month's Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, a journal of the American Heart Association.
<snip>
The consumption of a high-fat meal might contribute to acute clot formation. This, in turn, may cause a heart attack by blocking an artery," says Larsen.
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/1997/A/199700054.html


Furthermore:

Hours after a fat-rich meal, an individual is at a higher risk of a fatal heart attack than at other times," says researcher George Miller of the Medical College of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London.

Grease-filled food raises blood levels of a protein called factor VII, he explains. The higher your factor VII, the more massive a clot you'll form to stop the bleeding from a ruptured plaque...and the slimmer your chances of surviving.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0813/is_n4_v21/ai_15224643/


And finally:

Eating an unusually heavy meal does not just add calories, it also might trigger a heart attack, especially in people who already have heart disease, researchers said in a study released today.

The study found heart attack risk jumped four times in the two hours after a large meal.

“A very large meal may start the whole process” of a heart attack, said Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117825&page=1

former9thward

(32,002 posts)
56. Your first link said nothing about people with heart disease.
Fri Feb 17, 2012, 12:12 PM
Feb 2012

It was a study of 18 healthy young men none of whom had heart attacks. They said they could not draw conclusions for people with heart disease. It was filled with words like "might" and "may".

Your second link gave no information whatsoever on the study or if there was a study.

Your third link said "But the team did not record exactly what patients ate." So that can be anything. It also said sex and anger can trigger a heart attack. So I guess we better ban sex and sedate people 24/7 so they are never angry so they don't get a heart attack.

How about the Inuits and people in the northern part of Scandinavia where people have very high fat diets. How come they are not having heart attacks all over the place. In fact they should not even exist anymore according to your theory. But they do. Facts are stubborn things.



Crunchy Frog

(26,582 posts)
37. I wonder if they'll let him become the grill's official spokesman.
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 01:48 AM
Feb 2012

He can at least vouch for their honesty in representing their product.

Nikia

(11,411 posts)
48. Not sure if they are related
Thu Feb 16, 2012, 12:02 PM
Feb 2012

My stepfather's coworker had a heart attack shortly after eating a bunch of ribs at Famous Dave's and he takes it as a cautionary tale. On the other hand, I have a friend who is a cook at a family restaurant that prepared a man's last meal of oatmeal for him before the man dropped dead from a fatal heart attack while getting up from his table.

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