HEART ATTACK ON THE TOILET
COMMODE CODE
Work cited from the National Institute of Health
They conducted a retrospective study of patients who experienced cardiac arrest in the toilet. This study was conducted in a single teaching hospital, which was also a tertiary (third level) referral center covering a local population of about half a million people. This is one of the first studies to evaluate the clinical characteristics and resuscitation profiles of individuals sustaining cardiac arrest in the toilet.
The first purpose of this post is to inform you about the possible dangers encountered in the bathroom so you can consider ways to improve your risks. The other purpose is because 62% of victims are discovered by family members because they were "taking too long" in the bathroom. Hopefully, this will help you realize that you were not at fault.
First of all, consider that a history of heart diseases was predictive of having a cardiac arrest while on the toilet (95% of the cases in this study). Next, the most frequent time of the year to experience this particular issue is in December between the hours of 6am and noon. There is a 41% rate of spontaneous circulation restored after this event but even with that, there is only a 1% long term survival rate (a year or longer). Surprisingly, though, age was not found to be a major risk factor.
I could go into details about negative pressure in the chest cavity, increased blood pressure during the Valsalva maneuver or decreased blood pressure as the vagal nerve is stimulated, but I see no point in all of the technical jargon.
What I will say is this: you can control this area of your life. Eat an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Drink 6 - 8 glasses of water daily. Exercise, especially walking. Monitor your stool and adjust your lifestyle accordingly.
BRISTOL'S STOOL CHART
