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Rendering the bicycle of heart disease “un-ridable”…it begins with you and your doctor
by Seth J. Baum, MD, FACC, FAHA
I have often used the analogy of a bicycle wheel in discussing risk modification with my patients.
As a Preventive Cardiologist I have a singular goal - to avert heart attacks and strokes. At first blush this may seem to be an easy task. After all, everyone knows the major risks for vascular disease – smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, unfavorable genetics, age, and gender. Understanding and identifying the causes of heart disease should make the mission of prevention rather effortless. For example, a patient presents to my office with high cholesterol and ongoing tobacco abuse.
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Are you at risk for a heart attack? A $40 test may help you know
by Larry Altshuler, MD
Between 10% and 20% of all cases of coronary heart disease have been linked to elevated homocysteine levels. You could be one of these people and not even know it.
During the past few years, elevated levels of an amino acid called homocysteine have been linked to an increased risk of premature heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease (fatty deposits in peripheral arteries) and thromboembolism (blood clots), even among people who have normal cholesterol. In fact, between 10% and 20% of all cases of coronary heart disease have been linked to elevated homocysteine levels. You could be one of these people and not even know it.
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Living with hypertension…
diet and exercise go a long way
by Mahendr S. Kochar, MD, MACP
Although its precise cause is unknown, heredity, high salt diet, obesity, physical inactivity, sleep apnea (labored breathing with loud snoring), and excessive alcohol intake are often associated with Hypertension.
More than 25% of the adult population in the U.S. has hypertension (HTN), and though most people with HTN are symptom free, it takes its toll in the form of arteriolosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), leading to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and peripheral arterial disease if left untreated.
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Are you getting ... ALL the right HEART TESTS
by Seth J. Baum, MD, FACC, FAHA
In America 500,000 women die yearly from cardiovascular disease, more than cancer, accidents, and diabetes combined. And here’s a statistic you may not be aware of – women consistently outnumber men when it comes to dying of cardiovascular disease.
Listen to the news: read the paper; converse with friends and family; simply live in the modern world and you will surely know that cardiovascular disease is the greatest killer of men and women.
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Heart Disease in Women: Under-recognized & Under-treated
by George A. Lopez, MD, PhD
Andrea was a healthy 42-year-old woman who seemed to be in good health until one evening last fall. She was reading a book just before bed when she experienced severe and sudden chest pain. She quickly became unconscious. Her husband tried to wake her to no avail. He checked to see if her heart was beating. It was not. He immediately called 911 and began CPR while he waited for help to arrive…
Heart disease is a national health crisis that leads to death in nearly 400,000 U.S. women a year. It is the number one cause of death for women at every age, contributing to more deaths annually than stroke and all types of cancer combined. Nearly 40% of the annual deaths in women in the US result from cardiovascular disease.
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HEART FAILURE!
by Svanur Sigurbjornsson, MD
Can we take our heart for granted?
The heart is an amazing organ. It is a highly specialized muscle that beats just about every second from early embryonic age until death, without ever resting. The heart has to distribute oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the body from its left side and deliver low-oxygen blood from the body to the lungs from its right side. When we stand upright, the heart has to pump blood up against gravity to supply our brain with oxygen-when it fails to do this we get dizzy and eventually faint.
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Most common reason for Emergency Room
by Martin E. Sturman, MD
Chest pain is the second most common reason for Emergency Room (ER) visits, and for most patients the first question is “Is It My Heart?”
Two Main Types of Chest Pain
How do we distinguish between the various causes of chest pain? Fortunately, the chest pain of coronary (heart) disease, anginal pain, which is due to insufficient supply of oxygen rich blood to the heart, has several characteristics. This pain is unlike all other types of chest pain, called nonanginal pain...
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