Heart Attacks

[Akiko-infinity]

First off, please forgive me if this goes in the Q & A section, I couldn't decide where to put it.


I've been thinking about death note and the method of death, and I've come to realize that there is a major issue with the Death Note.

The deaths by heart attack seem to be sudden, unpredictable, and unstoppable. But seriously, how many people just keel over and die in seconds from a heart attack?

"Myocardial infarction (MI) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to occlusion (blockage) of a coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids (fatty acids) and white blood cells (especially macrophages) in the wall of an artery. The resulting ischemia (restriction in blood supply) and oxygen shortage, if left untreated for a sufficient period of time, can cause damage or death (infarction) of heart muscle tissue (myocardium)."

"The onset of symptoms in myocardial infarction (MI)[IE...heart attack] is usually gradual, over several minutes, and rarely instantaneous."

Even if it were silent and instantaneous, it take more than about a minute for someone to die from it. Ergo, anyone suffering from a heart attack should have....somewhere in the area of ten minutes to live (albeit ten minutes without proper blood flow would not be good for your continued well being).


So the scene in episode 25, where L died....he should have not died so quickly, hell they should have been able to get him to the hospital, it was right down the frackin' street. Or used a defibrillator. I find it difficult to believe that the greatest detective on the planet would face the threat of death by heart attack without a defibrillator handy.

Not only that...but the deaths by "Heart attack" actually seem to coincide more with a condition called Sudden Cardiac Death:

"The mechanism of death in a the majority of patients dying of sudden cardiac death is ventricular fibrillation and as a consequence there may be no prodromal symptoms associated with the death. These patients may be going about their daily business and suddenly collapse without the typical features of myocardial infarction such as chest pain and shortness of breath."


Thoughts? Opinions?  

[Deniera Knight]

Akiko-infinity

First off, please forgive me if this goes in the Q & A section, I couldn't decide where to put it.


I've been thinking about death note and the method of death, and I've come to realize that there is a major issue with the Death Note.

The deaths by heart attack seem to be sudden, unpredictable, and unstoppable. But seriously, how many people just keel over and die in seconds from a heart attack?

"Myocardial infarction (MI) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to occlusion (blockage) of a coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids (fatty acids) and white blood cells (especially macrophages) in the wall of an artery. The resulting ischemia (restriction in blood supply) and oxygen shortage, if left untreated for a sufficient period of time, can cause damage or death (infarction) of heart muscle tissue (myocardium)."

"The onset of symptoms in myocardial infarction (MI)[IE...heart attack] is usually gradual, over several minutes, and rarely instantaneous."

Even if it were silent and instantaneous, it take more than about a minute for someone to die from it. Ergo, anyone suffering from a heart attack should have....somewhere in the area of ten minutes to live (albeit ten minutes without proper blood flow would not be good for your continued well being).


So the scene in episode 25, where L died....he should have not died so quickly, hell they should have been able to get him to the hospital, it was right down the frackin' street. Or used a defibrillator. I find it difficult to believe that the greatest detective on the planet would face the threat of death by heart attack without a defibrillator handy.

Not only that...but the deaths by "Heart attack" actually seem to coincide more with a condition called Sudden Cardiac Death:

"The mechanism of death in a the majority of patients dying of sudden cardiac death is ventricular fibrillation and as a consequence there may be no prodromal symptoms associated with the death. These patients may be going about their daily business and suddenly collapse without the typical features of myocardial infarction such as chest pain and shortness of breath."


Thoughts? Opinions?

Okay..... all I paid mind to was "such as chest pain and shortness of breath" that happens to me once a year.... does that mean one day I'm just gonna die like that????  

[DomaDoma]

I think the vernacular term "heart attack" covers both cases. Probably, "shinzomahida" does as well.

The fact that they tend to convulsively clutch their chests is dramatic license, obviously. But I do intend to use that in my fanfic when people are trying to stress the distinction between people judged by Kira and people who just had a heart condition.  

[AlmostRulingTheWorld]

I noticed that as well. Like Doma said, though, I think it could work in both situations. I think it would be more interesting if the symptoms weren't so sudden in Death Note. I don't know why, I just think it would be...
And even if L was brought to the hospital or if a defibrillator was used it wouldn't have done anything because when someone's name is written in the death note death to that person is unavoidable. It would have almost been more suspenseful if something like that did happen, though.  

[bluesweets97]

The Deat Note just decides it wants a quick heart attack. This is a fictional anime thing, they don't think through every single real life thing.