Politics, stress and health
Afew months ago, a patient told me, “Doc, I got curvature of the spine. It makes me lean to the right, but my politics lean to the left. I go to physical therapy and it helps, but my politics still haven't budged.”
Which is strange because, while most patients feel free to tell me anything they want, from intimate details of their relationships to strange symptoms in the most private of parts, and because I am sworn — by law, by my Hippocratic oath and by my own moral code — to keep their secrets safe, most patients still seem to feel inhibited about sharing their political views.
You might think their political views are irrelevant. But actually, during the 2020 elections, I (like many of my colleagues) had more than a few patients who developed a stress-induced cardiomyopathy, called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, because they got into a political argument with a friend or a spouse or a colleague that made them so angry, so stressed out, it caused their heart to fail.
The pathology behind Takostubo Cardiomyopathy is that intense stress can lead to a surge of adrenaline so great that it becomes toxic to the heart, and that leads to the heart failing. It's called Takotsubo, I'm told, because that means “octopus trap” in Japanese. The heart of a patient affected by this stress-induced heart damage looks, apparently, just like an octopus trap. I myself have never seen an octopus trap. Nor do I speak Japanese, so I'll just take it on faith that the Japanese doctors who first described this condition in the 1990s have seen an octopus trap, or maybe even used one.
That said, I must say that I like the way my wife prepares octopus and cuttlefish with oil, vinegar and celery in a sort of insalata di pesce, which has absolutely nothing to do with
heart disease, but it’s nevertheless what I think about whenever I hear the term “Takotsubo.”
Which brings me back to politics.
Patients have asked me, sheepishly accusatory: “What are you, a Democrat?” or “What are you, a Republican?” I find the questions funny. I usually answer by saying, “I’m an American, just like you.” Which people tend to forget. We can, and should, have differences, of course. Like, for example, our taste in food. I really like octopus. I have a friend who gets completely grossed out by eating octopus. Does that mean I’m evil and she’s not? Or vice versa? Of course not. I am not that fond of chocolate ice cream, but butter pecan, now that’s really tasty. And sometimes mixing foods I don’t particularly like with other foods, say, chocolate ice cream with caramel, salt, peanuts and pretzels, or chocolate and butter pecan, well, now, that is something I find divine.
Which is why this whole nonsense of the political divide — which I’m sure makes Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC tons of money — is the most counterproductive, anti-American thing ever. You may not like my views, but that doesn’t make me, or you, evil or anti-American. My son fought in Iraq as a Marine. He risked his life defending my right to be able to disagree with him about how this country should be run. And while we all owe servicemen for their service, we would dishonor them and ourselves if we didn’t express our opinions. The childish acrimony and apparent hatred that we see from some of our politicians towards people with the opposite view is not only anti-democratic and dishonorable, it is as counterproductive as me saying that chocolate ice cream should be banned. Because then I’d never get to experience Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Phish Food ice cream. (Disclaimer: Chocolate Phish Food tastes good but is definitely not heart-healthy.)
And anyways, as we enter into this new election cycle, remember to stay hearthealthy and don’t get too stressed out when arguing about politics. Staying cool might just save your life.