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Alan Thicke, the beloved Canadian actor who gained fame as father Jason Seaver on Growing Pains, shocked the world when he died suddenly in December. Thicke had been active as an actor and in sports, especially hockey, right up until his death, which caused his heart attack to be even more unexpected. When he collapsed on the rink while playing hockey with his son, he was conscious enough to joke about getting a picture of himself in the stretcher, but he then died of an aortic dissection at the hospital.
The question so many people are asking: Did Thicke miss critical signs that he could be at risk for a heart attack? Was there anything he could have done to save his own life? And how can other relatively young men keep themselves from meeting the same fate?
Heart Attack Warning Signs
Most people who suffer from heart attacks experience warning signs, even if they don’t realize the warning signs are occurring. The most common are chest pain, shortness of breath, light headedness, and heart palpitation. One medical study concluded that in 839 sudden cardiac arrest situations, more than half of the patients remembered exhibiting warning signs in the previous month.
If Thicke had noticed these warning signs and sought medical attention, it’s possible that he could have avoided his heart attack with treatment. According to Dr. Chauncey Crandall, chief of the cardiac transplant program at Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, “I have found very few patients who are under treatment suffer sudden heart attacks.” For men Thicke’s age and older, this indicates the critical importance of seeking medical care from a cardiologist as soon as symptoms occur.
Aortic Dissection
After his heart attack, Thicke was ultimately killed by an aortic dissection, which is a serious condition in which the inner layer of the aorta, which is the large blood vessel branching from the heart, tears and causes blood to rupture through the aortic wall. It can prove fatal, as Thicke’s tragedy has shown. Though aortic dissection is uncommon, it is certainly possible, and emphasizes the significance of preventative cardiovascular care.