{"id":3427,"date":"2013-05-17T22:51:23","date_gmt":"2013-05-18T03:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/?p=3427"},"modified":"2013-05-17T23:03:22","modified_gmt":"2013-05-18T04:03:22","slug":"dr-crandall-and-the-4-things-that-happen-before-a-civilization-collapses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/?p=3427","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Crandall and The 4 Things That Happen Before A Civilization Collapses<\/font>"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was perusing some news articles on the web the other day, when I saw a link for a health article entitled \u201cFour Things You\u2019ll Feel Right Before A Heart Attack\u201d. OK, I\u2019m now 60, so I have to take stuff like this seriously, especially since my father died of heart disease (I\u2019ve outlived him by 10 years so far, knock on wood). Thus, I clicked on the link<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This takes you to a short article on the Newsmax site that talks a bit about the dangers of heart disease, and then sings the praises of a cardiologist named Dr. Chauncey Crandall. But nothing about those 4 things. You have to click a video link box to learn about that. The box has a time slider indicating this to be a 3 minute and 15 second film. OK, sounds reasonable \u2013 3 minutes to learn about 4 signs of a heart attack. But once you click the link, there\u2019s a bit of a switch \u2013 the first of many. The page changes to a different video, this one 34 minutes in length. <\/p>\n

The longer video starts to play, with a worded narration by Dr. Crandall himself. Five minutes pass, then 8 and 10, and the four things remain a mystery. You learn that having heart disease is a real bitch, but that there are things you can do to avoid or mitigate it, even if you already have a heart problem. Then Dr. Crandall talks about himself \u2013 about what an accomplished doctor he is, as well as how he is a devout Christian with a God-given mission in life is to help people avoid heart disease, or help them fight it once it begins. He tells you to stay put because he\u2019s just about to get to the important stuff, i.e. an overview of what heart disease is and maybe even something about those 4 signs. <\/p>\n

Dr. Crandall next starts talking about a patient of his who had an unexpected heart attack, despite leading a healthy and active life. Finally then, some signs of a sign! This fellow didn\u2019t have the classic \u201cHollywood heart attack\u201d, as Dr. Crandall calls it. No clutching at the chest \u2013 this guy just thought he was having some muscle aches in his arms and shoulders. Ohhhh, scary stuff!!<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s talk about a book and a newsletter that Dr. Crandall puts out that will help you to avoid all of this, and how you can get it for FREE. OK, now it is becoming clearer \u2013 this is a big sales pitch. Sometimes his stuff is FREE, but at other times it involves \u201cpennies a day\u201d. Well, pennies a day aren\u2019t FREE. And we still don\u2019t know what those 4 signs are. <\/p>\n

But OK, about half way through, the good doctor finally starts talking about heart disease. He shows some diagrams of what happens inside the arteries, and talks a lot about diet and how it affects these processes. Everything he says seems in line with what I\u2019ve read about heart disease \u2013 but nothing new, really. He talks about how smoking, exercise (or lack thereof) and inflammation play key roles in the disease process. Fine, that\u2019s been around for a while now. And he tells you that sugary and fatty foods are your worst enemy (and also simple carbs, e.g. potatoes and white bread, the “high g.i.\/g.l.<\/a>” foods, given that the body partly converts them to sugar). This all makes sense, and it clearly points to lifestyle changes that can be made to ameliorate the heart disease process. But I didn\u2019t hear much mention from Dr. Crandall about stress and genetic factors, two other huge inputs to cardiopathology. Perhaps because those things aren\u2019t all that controllable \u2013 and run against the \u201cyou can fix it\u201d theme that Crandall seems to be using to get you to buy his newsletter . . .<\/p>\n

Finally, after 25 minutes of sales pitch and heart disease 101, we then get to the 4 things! Drum roll . . . OK, the first is chest and body pain. An important point is that not all heart attack pain will be in the chest; it could also be in the neck, arms, back, shoulder, maybe even the jaw. Then, thing 2: sweating and nausea. All of the first two things can happen in a variety of ways \u2013 all at once, or coming and going over a couple of hours (then finally coming on with a vengeance), or slowly building and receding over several days. And sometimes, hardly at all. The point is that not all heart attacks are the same. They can and often do seem like something else at first. And yes, that is an important point to remember.<\/p>\n

OK, as to things 3 and 4 . . . so sorry; if the first two things were complex, these last two things are really complex, involving breathing and the stomach (indigestion). Thus, the good doctor says that he isn\u2019t going to go into them on the video; you need to read the details in his book and newsletters. Just press the orange button below, and get them FREE!!!!<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t press the orange button. But I did research his offer, and found out what the details are<\/a> behind Dr. Crandall\u2019s Christian generosity. In a nutshell: you get out a credit card and they charge you $4.95. You get a report about the 4 Things and a 3 month subscription to the doctor\u2019s monthly Heart Health Report. Thirty days before the end of this period, you get an e-mail saying unless you cancel, your subscription automatically renews for $54 a year, now and forever, amen. If you want to cancel, you need to call an 800 number or complete an online Customer Service form. And forget it if you are a former or present Heart Health Report subscriber.<\/p>\n

So, lots of fine print for a FREE offer! And the infamous \u201cauto-renew\u201d to your credit card; you\u2019re on the hook for $54 a year (pennies a day \u2013 14.75 pennies per day, or 450 pennies per issue, to be exact) ad infinitum. After an hour or so, I hardly knew anything more about the nature and signs of heart attacks than I did before. But I did find Dr. Crandall’s video and his “FREE” offer to be a bit nauseating in and of itself (hopefully that’s not one of those four signs!). <\/p>\n

Chauncey Crandall appears to be a legitimate cardiologist; a doctor rating web site indicates that his patients rate him highly<\/a>. He also claims to be a dedicated Christian<\/a> who often prays with and for his patients. I\u2019m totally good with that. Crandall also writes some relatively informative articles on health and heart disease on the Newsmax site. But now he\u2019s gotten together with Newsmax to help sell his monthly newsletter. Nothing wrong with that either in a capitalistic, free-market economy.<\/p>\n

But his advertising technique is really offensive. He and Newsmax get you interested by offering an internet health article allegedly about how to recognize if you are having a heart attack. Then it puts you thru a series of steps to get to that information. Along the way, you are exposed to fear about your heart (\u201cyou think you just have a sore arm from lifting a box\u201d), and then offered hope, perhaps false hope (\u201cthis can all be avoided, if you will follow what I say\u201d). <\/p>\n

Even worse, in his sales pitch, Chauncey Crandall cites the authority of two institutions that were once venerable (and still necessary) pillars of society, but now are being questioned and increasingly distrusted by the public: spiritual religion and scientific medicine. As though these two things didn\u2019t need to be further exploited for a cheap buck. <\/p>\n

Well, I decided to do a bit more research on Dr. Crandall and his \u201cFREE\u201d solution to the 4 Things \/ Heart Attack dilemma. Looks as if I\u2019m not the only one who is not impressed by what Dr. Crandall is up to here. Various people who took up his offer and later tried to cancel the annual credit card charge found it very difficult or impossible<\/a> to stop it. One guy said \u201cmy heart is more stressed just to go through the presentation of Dr. Crandall. More hearts can be saved if you stop the scam!!!\u201d <\/p>\n

Another fellow thought that the video re-booted his computer system and installed some malware (this didn\u2019t happen to me . . . I don\u2019t think . . . ). But on one discussion site<\/a>, there was a bit of levity \u2013 and why not? They say that laughter is good for the heart. Someone said that the four things before a heart attack would probably be: 1.) drive an hour on crowded highways to a chicken fast food restaurant 2.) order the family meal 3.) get into a fight with the counter guy because the chicken is over-cooked and greasy; and 4.) drive home and eat it anyway. Yes, Dr. Crandall himself said that greasy food is bad! Someone else added \u201csurprise, fear, and almost fanatical devotion to the Pope\u201d (only three, but then again, Dr. Crandall only gave away two of his four signs!). And then, another joker offered this list: 1.) you get laid off; 2.) your girlfriend tells you she\u2019s pregnant; 3.) you lose your home in a foreclosure fraud; and finally, wait for it -\u2013 4.) the baby is of a different race. <\/p>\n

To end on a more serious note: in the same discussion session, someone summarized what Dr. Crandall eventually says about the four things that (often, but don’t always) happen before a heart attack. In a nutshell:<\/p>\n

1) Chest pain or discomfort, pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach <\/p>\n

2) Nausea & sweating<\/p>\n

3) Shortness of breath (with or without #1), maybe also lightheadedness \/ dizziness<\/p>\n

4) Indigestion (he says “digestive issues” which may be “tricky”, so order his kit… hmpf…)<\/p>\n

Being aware of these things is important. I wish that Dr. Crandall had thought them important enough to present to the public BEFORE offering to sell his information services about how to interpret these potentially confusing and contradictory signals in the context of every day life. Sorry doc, maybe you intended better; perhaps you really believe that your newsletter can help a lot more people than you can treat directly (I don\u2019t imagine you will get any richer on your newsletter than you must already be from having a successful cardiology practice in the capitol of old-agedom, i.e. Florida). <\/p>\n

Nonetheless, your \u201cFREE\u201d video offer is not a good way to serve humanity; it adds up to a bad mix of both God and mammon. It rips all the more at the already-tattered shreds of public trust in important institutions; it further erodes the pillars on which the house of civilization rests. The body public can also have a heart attack! This kind of exploitative advertising is just another serving of sugary, fatty fast food for our society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was perusing some news articles on the web the other day, when I saw a link for a health article entitled \u201cFour Things You\u2019ll Feel Right Before A Heart Attack\u201d. OK, I\u2019m now 60, so I have to take stuff like this seriously, especially since my father died of heart disease (I\u2019ve outlived him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3427"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3430,"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3427\/revisions\/3430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimgworld.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}