from Hacker News

A similarity between the CAP theorem and our heart

by DVassallo on 10/24/23, 3:07 AM with 59 comments

• by lgeorget on 10/25/23, 7:40 AM

  The funny thing about all that "decentralization" and the fact that the heart doesn't need the central nervous system to work is that the pulmonary system does need it. So on the one hand, it's great, your heart can function on its own, on the other hand, you cannot breathe without a working brain.

  Time to finish that refactoring, evolution! One component is over-engineered with respect to the rest of the system.

• by throwaway_15axd on 10/25/23, 6:26 AM

  I'm not a cardiologist (so take my comment with a pinch of salt). But I was an avid runner (running average 10km a week for 2 years) but a few years later, I developed a form of Ventricular Tachycardia called RVOT.

  I went for a battery of tests similar to the OP. The results shows my heart is structurally OK. The doctor diagnosed that I had RVOT and recommended I do ablation. He says that this is a very very common procedure.

  I did the procedure. However, the symptoms started coming back again.

  After reading this article, I wonder if I should have just left my heart as is.

• by SirSegWit on 10/25/23, 9:41 AM

  Came for the CAP theorem, stayed for the cardiology 101 course, lol. His approach to diagnosing himself is really admirable. Working with doctors but never fully trusting them w.r.t. completeness is unfortunately the way to go in these busy times, where doctors just assume the most likely diagnosis and move on. Luckily, we have almost the same information available as the doctors with studies and such that we can dig deeper ourselves.

• by samspenc on 10/25/23, 5:39 AM

  Science / health aside, I think this is the longest Twitter post I've read posted as a single tweet (instead of a thread). I knew that Twitter had relaxed some length limits but I didn't realize it was possible to post a (checks in text editor) 10,000 character or 1,800 word article in a single tweet these days.

• by workfromspace on 10/25/23, 7:51 AM

  https://nitter.net/dvassallo/status/1716585205400756514 (original twitter URL requires JS to be enabled, nitter doesnt)

• by bluepizza on 10/25/23, 7:27 AM

  If you have PVCs and find yourself worried, remember that the author is an endurance runner.

  Coffee and anxiety also cause PVCs, which are really harmless.

• by mo_42 on 10/27/23, 5:35 PM

  I showed this text to a friend who works in internal medicine (so not a cardiologist but probably much closer than most commenters).

  Basic comment was that the person confuses and misunderstands many things. According to my friend, the range marked as "missed beat" contains a premature heart beat [1].

  Some more comments:

  - Premature hear beats happen in us quite frequently

  - CT scans are a rather invasive diagnostic method and such be avoided

  So unless some more competent doctor comments otherwise, I take this as a nice story that resonates well in our layperson's minds. Not more.

  [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premature_heart_beat

• by DrDroop on 10/25/23, 7:13 AM

  CAP shows up in lots of places, my favourite is arrow's impossibility theorem.

• by poszlem on 10/25/23, 2:13 PM

  PVCs are curious because many people have them and don't even realise.

  But for those who do notice, they sometimes become super aware of every beat.

  Feeling a PVC can make some people anxious, which boosts adrenaline, potentially leading to more PVCs.

  It's like a feedback loop where a "missed beat" gets linked with that adrenaline jolt.

  Most of the time, PVCs are no big deal. So, the best "fix" might just be learning to shrug them off, which often makes them happen less or go away (obviously after getting a green light from a cardiologist).

• by latchkey on 10/25/23, 5:38 AM

  This is an absolutely fascinating read.

• by polishdude20 on 10/25/23, 5:40 AM

  I'm surprised an extra 30 mins per day of running for 6 weeks had enough of an impact to change the structure of the heart noticeably.

• by tw1984 on 10/25/23, 6:09 AM

  amazing article! best read in 2023.