Heart failure, also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a very common heart condition. As doctors, we understand exactly what we mean when this diagnosis is given, but for the patient it is often a different story. The words “heart failure” lead people to assume that their heart has “given up” and is actually […]
How To Survive A Heart Attack
To survive a heart attack you first must understand what is actually happening to the body when a heart attack occurs. What happens in a heart attack? A sudden rupture in an unstable area of a wall in an artery leads to buildup of clot with often-total blockage of the artery. This cuts off the blood […]
Depression and Heart Disease – A Killer Combination
In 1937, during the thick of the Great Depression, a doctor from the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene made a curious observation: patients with depression died more often than their healthy peers. What was the main cause of death in these patients with so-called “involutional melancholia”? Heart disease. As investigators have pulled back […]
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 […]
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 […]
Atrial Fibrillation – Part 1 – What is it?
Atrial fibrillation, sometimes called a-fib, is the commonest cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm). In contrast to the metronome-like heart rhythm that we are used to, atrial fibrillation is characterized by an irregularly irregular heartbeat. If you were to check your pulse, there would be no pattern. The timing of your heartbeat would almost seem random. […]
Can Medicines Help My Mitral Valve?
The mitral valve is there to stop blood flowing backwards in the left side of the heart, and so allows blood to travel the correct way, forward, to supply the body! Most of my posts to far have been about mitral valve prolapse (MVP). In mitral valve prolapse the degenerated valve may lead to leakiness, […]
Exercise With Heart Disease – Is it Safe and Should I Be Doing It?
Time after time I come across patients who are suffering from stable coronary artery disease (heart disease) who, through no fault of their own, are under the impression that they can’t partake in any form of ‘strenuous’ activity, as it would be detrimental to their health. It is astonishing that they think they cannot or […]
Do I Need Antibiotics For Dental Work With Mitral Valve Prolapse?
The Controversy.. Take Them .. Take Them ..Take Them …. Don’t take them By Mustafa Ahmed MD In 2007 the American Heart Association (AHA) released an updated set of guidelines regarding the use of antibiotics to prevent heart valve infection in patients undergoing procedures such as certain dental procedures. The guidelines caused a great deal […]
Diastolic Heart Failure
Diastolic heart failure, is when you have heart failure with a near normal (preserved) ejection fraction. This type of heart failure is related more to the heart’s inability to relax. Diastolic Heart Failure sounds like a really scary thing, but don’t write your will yet. Learn the facts from a world renowned cardiologist.