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Comment by jeffnv | Hacker News Reader

Guess what: fit people die too. Every day. As an athletic clean eater with heart problems, ignorant comments like this raise my BP even higher. All bodies have issues. We're complicated. You'll develop your own set of troubles at some point. When you do I'm sure you'll cherish the advice of ignorant strangers on the internet suggesting you just exercise, eat healthier, drink more water, etc as though that will literally prevent all health issues.

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This a hundred times. I've had people suggest that I could help my sleep apnoea by losing weight or quitting drinking on the internet after I've mentioned it.

Never mind when I was first diagnosed I was actually underweight because the chronic lack of sleep had completely removed my appetite and that I only drink a couple of times a year.

It also assumes that this advice isn't something my doctor wouldn't have given me if it were appropriate

In adults, the most common cause of obstructive sleep apnea is excess weight and obesity. That is a fact. If you’re very overweight and have sleep apnea, losing weight isn’t a crazy suggestion. If you’re skinny it obviously doesn’t make sense.

This isn’t about sleep apnea, but heart disease and stroke from high cholesterol and blood pressure, both of which diet and exercise are the leading cause.

Poor diet alone is linked to half of heart attacks and strokes. Poor diet and exercise has a large negative impact on health. It’s not some made up conspiracy to shame people.

I'm aware that losing weight would be good advice were I overweight. My comment was more trying to illustrate that people make assumptions and then give out advice based on them as if they are universally true

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