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…
Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary artery disease is the most common type of heart disease and is the leading cause of death in the United States. It is caused by a buildup of plaque inside the coronary arteries.
Cholesterol treatment and atherosclerosis: a new frontier
The problem with cholesterol treament and atherosclerosis: Over the last decade, cholesterol treatment and atherosclerosis has evolved significantly. Atherosclerosis is a general term for hardening and thickening of the arteries. In its most common form, atherosclerosis is a slow progressive disease that usually starts in early adulthood and becomes dangerous later in life. Atherosclerosis is a…
CT Coronary Artery Calcium Heart Scan – The Facts
What is a CT Coronary Artery Calcium Heart Scan? The coronary artery calcium heart scan is a CT scan of the heart that looks for areas of calcium in the arteries that supply the heart with blood. The amount of calcium detected is then added together to give a score. The more calcium there is,…
Look Inside The Heart Arteries
Hollywood dreams of the future often involve medicine and how we will “look inside” the human body. Modern medicine continues to evolve and we are growing closer to realizing this dream. Most of our tools that allow us to “look inside” the body give us a relatively large area that is imaged, and the equipment…
Can Heart Disease Be Reversed?
Reversing Heart Disease Reversing heart disease is a holy grail of cardiology. It’s scary when you are told that you have a blockage in your arteries causing symptoms and are at increased risk of a heart attack. It’s even scarier when you are told you may need open-heart surgery or other procedures such as stents…
The New Disappearing Absorb Heart Stent
This article is about the Absorb Heart Stent, a new dissolving stent known as a Bio-absorbable Scaffold. Unlike traditional heart stents that remain for life, the Absorb heart stent dissolves over time to where it completely disappears. This has many advantages. In this article myheart.net author, and cardiologist Mustafa Ahmed MD of Princeton Baptist Medical…
Heart Bypass Surgery Explained In Incredible Pictures
Heart Bypass Surgery Heart Bypass Surgery is an open-heart surgery that is used to treat blockages of the heart arteries. When there is a heart artery blockage, blood supply to areas of the heart are affected. A heart bypass is attached beyond the blockage restoring blood flow to that area. Heart bypasses are either arteries…
Open Heart Surgery – Incredible Picture Guide!
What is Open Heart Surgery? Traditionally, open heart surgery meant the breastbone being cracked open, providing direct access to the heart, allowing heart surgeons to fix heart problems while the patient is placed on a heart lung machine. Open heart surgery is probably the most widely known and feared of all operations, but in the…
How Long Does Heart Bypass Surgery Last?
Heart Bypass Surgery Is Common Several hundred thousand patients undergo a bypass operation every year in the US. Although the numbers are not as high as a decade ago (largely due to the number of stent procedures performed by cardiologists) bypass surgery remains the best and safest option for many patients with serious heart artery…
Signs and Symptoms of a Heart Attack
Why it’s important to be aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack Signs and symptoms of a heart attack can get muddied in our ever quickening pace of society. It seems as if we have become accustomed to feeling tired and “run down.” We unconsciously have conditioned ourselves to downplay our physical feelings…
