This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Emerson Perin, Director of the Center for Clinical Research, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX. Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction is a chronic but progressive disease. Patients can live several years and even decades with chronic systolic heart failure. However, the progression of the disease can lead […]
What If You Have Mild Congestive Heart Failure?
Heart failure is a very common disease and affects approximately 1-2 percent of the adult population in developed countries. The prevalence of congestive heart failure rises to about 10% among the population over 70 years of age. Projection in the United States shows that heart failure will increase by more than 40% by the year […]
Surviving a Heart Attack: the Big One!
The widow maker heart attack, also known as “the big one”, is an acute occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery that can lead to severe heart muscle damage and/or death. If not treated in a timely matter, surviving a heart attack of this magnitude is very difficult. While visiting Austin, Texas, my wife and I […]
Huff Puff: Why you might be short of breath
Why am I short of breath – could it be heart failure? The term heart failure is a frightening one – often people think about their heart stopping, ‘failing’ as the term goes – leading to death. But, as we’ve learned previously, there’s more to heart failure than the name. How does the heart pump? […]
The Widow Maker Heart Attack
The widowmaker is the quintessential heart attack. And it’s dangerous. Find out why they call this LAD blockage the widow maker, what you can do to limit the risks of such a heart attack, and how widowmaker heart attacks are treated.
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, […]
Mitral Valve Regurgitation (Mitral Insufficiency)
By Mustafa Ahmed MD What is Mitral Valve Regurgitation (Mitral Insufficiency)? Mitral Valve Regurgitation also known as Mitral Insufficiency is basically a leaky mitral valve. As a doctor that specializes in heart valve disease, this is the most common valve problem I see. The mitral valve stops blood flowing backwards from the main chamber of […]
Sinus Arrhythmia – What Is It?
What is Sinus Arrhythmia? What is sinus arrhythmia? Heartbeats are like clockwork. In the same way the second hand on a clock ticks regularly each second, the heart has an electrical impulse that is generated and leads to a heartbeat in a regular manner. The timing between each of these generated impulses is known as […]
PVC Heart Beats – Are They Dangerous?
PVC’s are common. Some people are troubled by just a few PVC’s where as others may have a PVC heart beat almost every other beat and not even notice it. Apart from being annoying to some (symptoms are sometimes described as heart flutter), are they of long-term significance? In this article we will look at […]
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 […]