Decades ago in the 70’s and 80’s there was a flurry of articles published in major medical journals that implicated coffee drinking as a risk factor for heart attacks. It was reported that the risk was related to the amount of coffee consumed: the more coffee, the higher the risk. But as research techniques improved,…
Metformin Weight Loss – Does it Work?
Metformin weight loss claims are something that are often talked about by health professionals to be one of the benefits of commencing metformin therapy, but are they true? 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.…
The Insulin Resistance Diet – Fat, Fat and More Fat
The Insulin resistance diet is the holy grail in reversing and treating diabetes, but it is not as elusive as you may think. For the purpose of this article, when I refer to the insulin resistance diet, I imply a diet that helps to reduce or prevent insulin resistance and I use it interchangeably with…
Do Artificial Sweeteners Cause Insulin Release?
Mustafa Ahmed MD Do Artificial Sweeteners Cause Insulin Release - Why Do People Care So Much? The search for the answer has reached almost mythical status, and is most commonly asked by those following a low carbohydrate diet, such as the Atkins diet. Lets briefly look at the theory behind the Atkins diet, which is…
Are Carbohydrates The Real Enemy?
For decades fat has been labeled as the enemy when it comes to obesity, diabetes and a whole range of health problems. In the medical world it has been blamed for the deposition of plaques in arteries and the cause of high cholesterol, and in the fitness world it is deemed the reason why people…
Prediabetes – What is it and Who is at Risk?
Diabetes is one of the most significant chronic medical diseases that currently afflicts the population. Diabetes should not in fact be seen as a disease in itself but rather as a causation of several other debilitating diseases. Unlike, for example, chronic pulmonary disease which mainly effects one organ system (the lungs), diabetes causes coronary artery…
The 35-45 year old health check – (Part III) – The Physical Examination
By Murtaza Ahmed MD So hopefully before reading this you have already read Part I and Part II and understand why it is so important that you have a health check and what kind of things should have been focused on in the history. Only after a good thorough history has been taken should…
The 35-45 Year-Old Health Check – (Part 1) – Why is it so important?
By Murtaza Ahmed MD As I mentioned in my previous post, the obesity epidemic, one of the most common presentations of the 35-45 year old patient is for a ‘general health check’. There is something about this age that makes people conscious that there may be aspects of their health that require attention. The…
Understanding Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease is a condition where your kidneys have been damaged and do not perform their primary functions at peak capacity. In addition to the aforementioned duties, the kidney’s most well-known function is to help filter the blood of various toxins and excess byproducts of metabolism.
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…
