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,…
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…
Is Chocolate Good For Your Heart?
By Stephen Russell MD It’s the season of love during Valentine’s day. A time for romance. For greeting cards. For heart-shaped decorations. And for chocolate. Since antiquity, couples have called on the memory of St. Valentine to profess their love for one another, and perhaps no other gift better represents those emotions than a box…
How Exercise Can Save Your Life
I cut my teeth on country music in college. Having come from Alabama, one would think that country music was in my blood, but it took a move to Nashville to have the country melody course through my soul. In a line from a country music classic at that time, Clint Black sang: “Walking away,…
Atrial Fibrillation – Part 2 – Blood thinners
By Julian Booker MD Although we identify only four chambers with a normal human heart, the left atrium has a small finger-like pouch attachment most commonly called the appendage. Blood flow within the appendage can be slower than the rest of the left atrium. Although many cardiologists would argue, the left atrial appendage does have…
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…
Stroke – Part 1 – Types of Stroke
By Julian Booker MD Stroke falls under the category of cerebrovascular disease meaning disease involving the blood vessels of the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord and visual system). We all know someone that has had a stroke but many of us do not know what a stroke is. I have heard people refer to…
Hypertension
Hypertension, also called high blood pressure, is the condition where one or both of your blood pressure values are elevated. When looking at your blood pressure recording you will notice two numbers. The top and bottom numbers of your blood pressure measurement are called the systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure respectively. For years,…
PFO anyone?
By Julian Booker MD Help!! It’s an emergency!! I have a hole in my heart!! My last doctor performed an echocardiogram and told me I have a patent foramen ovale (PFO). What does this mean? More importantly, what does this mean for me? The foramen ovale is a shunt that is a necessary component of…
