Cymbalta snuffed out my mother’s crippling depression. Yes, the antidepressant Cymbalta literally saved my mother’s life. Cymbalta wiped out my mother’s depression and panic attacks, with no side effects save for a few brief dizzy [...]
Does that nasty headache from heavy weightlifting mean you might have an aneurysm? Sometimes heavy weightlifting (squats, deadlift, etc.) can cause a headache and make you think this is an aneurysm. I’m a former certified [...]
A cardiologist provides insight into how a specialist can examine a woman with severe heart disease and then tell her she’s in great shape Cardiologists do indeed miss severe heart disease in women (men as [...]
So your calcium scan score is high, but your stress test was negative and showed no diminished blood flow through your coronary arteries. Are you off the hook? Do you wonder about the implications of [...]
Fear of radiation exposure keeps some people from getting a calcium score done for their coronary arteries. The calcium score is a strong predictor of likelihood of a future heart attack. The equipment used for [...]
How young is too young to have measurable plaque buildup in the coronary arteries? A coronary artery calcium score exam has been proven to be very reliable at predicting the likelihood of a coronary event [...]
Is it possible to have blocked arteries but at the same time a low coronary calcium score? The calcium score is a numerical value that's associated with the likelihood of having soft plaque heart disease. [...]
Suppose you’ve been wanting a CT angiogram, and your cardiologist has informed you that the CT angiogram would be pointless -- -- because your very high calcium score indicates that all the calcification in your [...]
You can be fooled into thinking that you don't have a family history of heart disease! Do you really know for sure? Would your relatives tell you they had heart disease? My mother repeatedly told [...]
Must some people live with angina instead of getting it treated with stents or bypass surgery? So many people live with stable angina rather than get stents or bypass surgery. “It is rare that angina [...]
Are you scared to have a catheter angiogram, but need one? A catheter coronary angiogram is an invasive procedure, and if your doctor recommends you should have one, you may end up too afraid to [...]
Plaque in your abdomen is a strong clue that there is plaque in your heart: coronary artery disease, or "sludge" in your heart's arteries. When a CT abdominal scan shows very high degrees of abdominal [...]
A fast resting pulse rate in postmenopausal women is correlated to a higher risk of heart attacks and coronary deaths. But should you allow this study's unexpected results to scare you into worrying about your [...]
The research-verdict is out that early menopause appears to double heart attack risk and increase risk of cardiovascular disease. But does this take into consideration variables of exercise, diet, body weight and smoking history? The [...]
Ever notice an increase in heart rate when eating or swallowing? Perhaps you can feel your heart rate increase upon eating or swallowing; or, maybe you accidentally discovered this by happening to take your pulse [...]
When one thinks of obesity's harm to the heart, it's usually clogged arteries. But being fat can impair the heart's pumping action: heart failure. The heart fails to pump the amount of blood it's supposed [...]
Wondering if your risk of deep vein thrombosis goes up if you must wear a cast or a splint? “Any kind of immobility, which slows down the blood flow in the legs, will increase the [...]
The common-held belief among physicians is that pulmonary embolism is always from a DVT, a blood clot that forms in the legs or pelvis. The DVT may break away and end up in a lung, [...]
Is deep vein thrombosis from air travel exaggerated? DVT from long air travel times is not likely in healthy people, says the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). The IQWiG reveals [...]
What’s better for coronary bypass surgery: a vein from your leg or an artery from your arm? In coronary bypass surgery (aka CABG), the saphenous vein from the leg is typically used for the grafting [...]
Stroke is a real risk during and following coronary bypass surgery -- which may be on or off pump. There are actually four kinds of CABG, but which one has the lowest risk of stroke? [...]
Can angiogram, bypass surgery and valve replacement be done in the same day? And if so, how life-threatening could this trio be? Coronary angiogram, coronary bypass surgery with heart valve replacement, all in the same [...]
The heart-lung machine used in coronary bypass surgery is a two-edged sword. The cognitive problems that are associated with it have led to the name "pump-head" to describe some patients who -- seemingly -- are [...]
If you need bypass surgery you might wonder about having it done without the heart lung machine and instead with the "beating heart" procedure. The absence of the heart lung machine is called off-pump or [...]
How much sleep should you get during recovery from coronary bypass surgery? A healthy amount of sleep is so very important following CABG: coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. “Most patients have difficulty returning to their [...]
Can thyroid levels be affected by heart bypass surgery? The thyroid controls metabolism. And metabolism is a lot more than how many calories per hour your body burns at rest. "Metabolism is the process by [...]
Why don’t more heart surgeons perform off-pump (beating heart) surgery? Off-pump heart surgery carries less risk of stroke and other serious issues when compared to on-pump heart surgery (i.e., operations that use the heart-lung, or [...]
How long do the grafts from coronary bypass surgery last if the patient continues eating a junk food diet? Is coronary bypass surgery a green light to continue eating a junk food diet, and how long [...]
Can orthostatic hypotension be caused by coronary bypass surgery? If you’re wondering if orthostatic hypotension can be caused by coronary bypass surgery, you’re not alone. “Hypotension after surgery is a common problem and takes several [...]
Does the heart lung machine (cardiopulmonary bypass) affect sense of taste? The heart lung machine is used during cardiac surgery so that the surgeon can make repairs on a completely still heart (no pumping), but [...]
Here's what goes on the day you're told a family member needs emergency quintuple bypass surgery after an angiogram shows severe blockages in five major coronary arteries. My mother was wheeled into the OR for [...]
Depression after heart bypass surgery isn't just about feeling depressed over clogged arteries, but the depression can have other related causes. How expected or common is depression after coronary bypass surgery? The University of Pittsburgh [...]
Here's what to expect hours after quintuple bypass surgery -- and it's not pretty. Forget what you've seen on TV shows; expect the patient to look hideous. My mother underwent emergent quintuple bypass surgery; we had [...]
After coronary bypass surgery, what exactly does the patient look like? What should family members expect to see when they walk into the ICU where the patient just arrived after undergoing coronary bypass surgery? There [...]
Coronary bypass surgery is actually becoming more and more common in very old people. Thousands of people in their 90s have had heart bypass surgery, also known as CABG. People over 90 Years of Age [...]
An elderly person suffers a heart attack and undergoes coronary bypass surgery. How long are they expected to survive on average? Is the bypass surgery even worth it for a very elderly person? Heart bypass surgery [...]
Here's a no-nonsense way to outright prevent gaining weight no matter how stressful your caregiving tasks are, no matter how demanding your charge is. I’m an exercise and fitness enthusiast, and former personal trainer, who [...]
Why do the grown kids of the super morbidly obese who can't even walk across a room keep bringing them giant portions of junk food? Bringing enormous amounts of food to one’s 900 pound parent [...]
Why don’t TLC shows about massively obese people confined to bed ever explore why their family members keep bringing them food? Over the past several years there’s been quite a few TLC programs focusing on people [...]
Are you at risk of ever becoming an enabler to a family member who eventually gets so super morbidly obese that they can barely get out of bed or are even confined to bed? They [...]
