My wife lost her first love recently. Preceding me by five years, this guy was a constant presence in her house when we met. He shared her bed. He slept on her sofa. He ate her food. Even when I cast questioning glances his way during the early days of our courtship, nothing changed. I…
How to Become a Cardiologist
The Early Stages of Becoming a Cardiologist At myheart.net we've helped millions of people through our articles and answers. Now our authors are keeping readers up to date with cutting edge heart disease information through twitter. Follow Dr Ahmed on Twitter @MustafaAhmedMD Follow @MustafaAhmedMD If you are reading this article on how to become a cardiologist,…
Troponin Levels – The Heart Attack Blood Test
What does elevated troponin level mean? An elevated troponin is in general concerning for heart damage until proven otherwise. It can be from a heart attack due to a blockage or due to other conditions that place strain on the heart such as heart failure or critical illness. As discussed below there are other, non…
Afib with RVR – When The Heart Races Out Of Control
What Is Afib with RVR? Afib with RVR refers to atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular rate. Usually the heart is like clockwork, the top (collecting) chambers beat then the bottom (main pumping) chambers sense this and also beat, and so on, in a nice regular fashion just like a clock ticking second after second. Usually…
Amlodipine Side Effects – What To Expect
The most likely reason to be started on amlodipine is for blood pressure control. It causes relaxation and dilation of the blood vessels leading to lowering of blood pressure. The other reason people are started on amlodipine is for control of chest pain in people with coronary artery disease, amlodipine is thought to achieve this…
Heart Blockage – Explained With Pictures!
Heart blockage is a term commonly used by patients referring to coronary artery disease, a build up of plaque causing narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart muscle with blood. This heart blockage, if severe enough can prevent the muscle getting the blood it needs to function, especially at times when more blood flow…
Did That Stent Save My Life?
Pretty much everyone knows someone who has had a stent placed in his or her heart. The story told by the patient with the stents is classic. The chest pains had been coming and going for a while, but they had been passed off as indigestion or muscle pain. Tests were done, and showed that…
What Is A Stress Test?
Unless otherwise stated, any stress test referenced on a MyHeart related blog post will refer specifically to cardiac stress tests. Other heart related stress tests like cardiopulmonary exercise tests can be discussed at a later date. In generic terms, a stress test is a procedure to indirectly determine whether there are significant blockages in your…
Chest Pain – Part 3 – Still More Types of Chest Pain?
As much as I may not want to admit it, there are other things that can cause chest pain other than issues with your cardiovascular system. Most of these things annoy me because they don’t deal with the heart but I can’t deny that they are important. We will spend this post reviewing some of…
Chest Pain – Part 2 – More Chest Pains
When we last spoke, we were discussing angina. We now know what it usually feels like and what it usually means. But there are many other reason to have chest pain, some dangerous and some not. We will spend the next bit of our time today discussing some causes of chest pain not related to…
