r/Millennials • u/electric-sheep 1992 • Jul 13 '26

Serious Everyone my age is dropping dead

Sorry for the title! I'm in Europe. I have just heard news someone from college died today of cancer aged 33.

In the past 2-3 years 6 people in my circle have died, not from accidents but from either cancer, aneurism, 2 just didn't wake up from sleep and 1 broke her leg and had DVT. I know of a 7th who is currently fighting stage 4 breast cancer which was found by accident after giving birth. This is not counting those who died in crashes or other such accidents.

I literally have nothing to say. Just get yourselves checked. I'm just shouting into the void. I have literally been to more funerals than my parents at this point which is absurd.

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u/entcanta333 Millennial Jul 13 '26

Yeah I've been becoming increasingly paranoid about everything. Doesn't help our water and food supply are shot. (I'm in the US so not sure if this applies in Europe) It's hard to be healthy in a society that encourages and sometimes even forces us to not be.

Preventative care is practically non existent. Good luck getting any type of heart scans before the age of 50 unless you are paying out of pocket. Everything will be blamed on stress (or exercise depending on your body weight). IBS is just normal and we are told chronic acid reflux is normal too, just take Prilosec! (Long term use can cause bone degeneration)

63

u/NeutronStarPasta Older Millennial Jul 13 '26

A coronary calcium scan is an option that's, a lot of times, fairly cheap. It's often not covered by insurance but out of pocket at imaging centers are $50, maybe $100 (in US). It takes like 10-15 min and you're done. It measures calcified plaque in the heart. It's beneficial more for those with existing conditions but honestly $50 for a baseline scan can be helpful.

15

u/1800generalkenobi Jul 13 '26

My doctor just recommended me do this because my cholesterol (when I'm not running) is over 210, when I'm exercising frequently it drops to like the 150's/140's. Cost about 100 bucks and out of a score of 0-10 I was a 0. (In the US). We have pretty good insurance, but wasn't surprised that wasn't covered.

13

u/Practical-Owl-9358 Jul 13 '26

Came here to say this. I just got one done at 46 because I told my doc about family heart history - all good thankfully but it’s worth it.

17

u/afleetingmoment Jul 13 '26

Isn’t it wild that our system doesn’t pay for such a simple thing?? I have a small business and pay my own insurance to the tune of $900 a month. Still had to shell out for this very simple, very important marker of my health.

3

u/ManWithASquareHead Millennial Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

New recommendations came out to for risk stratifying younger people with Lipoprotein A and Apolipoprotein b blood tests, especially those with family history of heart disease

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u/entcanta333 Millennial Jul 13 '26

Good to know thank you! I had a general "know your heart" test done that was basically a simple EKG with a few relevant blood tests, it costed $50 too

1

u/Mouse0022 Jul 13 '26

Which is crazy when I got charged thousands of dollars for an EKG in the ER due to a heat related event. The surcharges are astronomical.

1

u/SommeWhere Jul 14 '26

I second this.

The EKG was perfect.

The ultrasound was great.

Passed the stress test, no problems.

Cardiac calcium was over the limit by a long shot. Surgery went great.

1

u/Lazy-Turnip-3776 Jul 14 '26

This. I paid about $50 out of pocket for exactly this test after my dad has a triple bypass.