Pulmonary Embolism: What Can You Do Besides Call 9-1-1?
Would you know what to do, besides call 911, if someone near you seemed to be showing signs of a pulmonary embolism? After all, a PE can kill in minutes. “Sudden onset of shortness of [...]
When Are IVC Filters Used for Pulmonary Embolus Prevention?
How many hospital patients would die from a pulmonary embolism every year if from this point on, all surgery patients received an IVC filter -- patients undergoing surgeries that increase the risk of a DVT? Surgeries [...]
Heart Attack after Normal Stress Test: How Does this Happen?
Yes, a person can have a normal stress test but a heart attack shortly after, says a cardiologist. Ever wonder if you can have normal stress test results, then suffer a heart attack soon afterwards? [...]
Can Troponin Elevation Mean Something Other than Heart Attack?
Patients who present in the emergency room with chest pain are given a troponin test (blood sample is taken by nurse). Troponin is a protein enzyme that leaks from the heart when this muscle is [...]
Does Zero Calcium Score Always Mean Clear Arteries?
If your calcium score is ZERO, how confident should you feel about not having heart disease, and having nice clean arteries? Did you recently get your coronary calcium score measured and it was zero, but [...]
Why Does Anxiety Cause Premature Ventricular Contractions?
Anxiety can cause PVCs (premature ventricular contractions), especially if you have anxiety over PVCs. But just how does this happen; what is the mechanism? “Anxiety causes increased stimulation of beta receptors on the heart, which [...]
Can PVCs Be Caused By Seasonal Allergies?
A cardiologist addresses whether or not premature ventricular contractions can be caused by seasonal allergies. Many people who have PVCs want to know if seasonal allergies can cause this sometimes very disturbing symptom. “This would [...]
Can Angina Cause Vomiting?
Find out why angina can cause vomiting. Angina is a condition in which insufficient blood flow occurs in the heart due to narrowing of the coronary arteries from disease (plaque buildup), and hallmark symptoms are [...]
Can Muscle Twitching Be Caused by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
A doctor answers the question, Can chronic fatigue syndrome cause twitching muscles. “Chronic fatigue might cause muscle twitching in some people, but the mechanism is not clear,” says Dr. Moshe Lewis, MD, board certified in [...]
Why Does Inactivity Make Back Pain WORSE?
Find out why inactivity is perhaps the worst thing you can do for low back pain. Bed rest and inactivity are bad for low back pain, you may already know, but do you know why? [...]
Causes of Calf Cramps in the Middle of the Night
Cramping in your calves overnight has a number of possible causes. Many people have suffered from the sudden spasm of a calf muscle in the middle of the night, caused by tensing it a bit [...]
How Old Is Too Old for Total Knee Replacement Surgery?
Are you getting up there in years or know someone of very old age and wondering if you can be TOO OLD for total knee replacement surgery? This surgery is invasive and comes with notorious [...]
Best Ways to Prevent a DVT after Joint Replacement Surgery
The complication of DVT following joint replacement surgery can lead to a fatal pulmonary embolism. Therefore, the best prevention tactics for a DVT must be put into place. Other high risk surgeries for DVT are [...]
Failed Loosened Knee Replacement Missed by Bone Scan
Should you rely entirely on what a bone scan shows if you suspect that your total knee replacement has "loosened" or failed? It is important to discuss this with your orthopedic surgeon. A failed total [...]
Five Causes of Loosened Total Knee Replacement Hardware
“Total Knee replacements can ‘fail’ by a number of mechanisms,” says orthopedic surgeon David Fisher, MD, Director of the Total Joint Center at the Indiana Orthopedic Hospital. There are five chief reasons for a failed [...]
General Anesthesia vs. Regional for Knee Replacement Surgery
Did you know that the use of regional anesthesia for total knee replacement surgery isn’t all that uncommon? General anesthesia brings with it fear in many people that they'll "never wake up." Don't let the [...]
Beets, Red in Toilet, in Urine and Poops
Beets are one of the best foods you can put in your body. At the same time, few foods have caused more anxiety and fear than beets--because in some individuals, they cause urine to turn [...]
How NOT to Let Long Femurs Prevent a Perfect Back Squat
Don't Let Long Femurs Stop You from a Perfect Back Squat There's a HUGE issue in the strength training world with femur length. I'm a former personal trainer who has long femurs -- great for [...]
Is Ejection Fraction a Predictor of Mortality?
A cardiologist addresses the question of ejection fraction being a predictor of mortality. Ejection fraction is the amount of “squeeze” or force that a heart yields with each beat. Can this actually be a predictor [...]
Can a Marathon Runner Have a Low Ejection Fraction?
Marathon runners usually have strong hearts, but believe it or not, they can actually have a low ejection fraction, says a cardiologist. You may have heard that it’s possible for a marathon runner to have [...]
THORACIC AORTIC ANEURYSM: Weightlifting & Cardio Guidelines
Top surgeons answer questions about just how much you can and cannot lift with a thoracic aortic aneurysm. After doing extensive research in online medical journals regarding weightlifting limitations for people with a thoracic aortic [...]
Can Sore Neck Muscles from Weightlifting Cause Headache?
Not only can sore neck muscles from working out with weights cause a headache, but don’t underestimate what bad sitting posture can do, either. A headache can be an alarming symptom, but remember, the head [...]
Rotator Cuff Injury Pain vs. Biceps Tendonitis: Comparison
Symptoms of rotator cuff injury and biceps tendonitis overlap; a sports medicine doctor explains if there’s a way to tell difference. Is there a way to tell the difference between the symptoms of a rotator [...]
Six Reasons You Have Joint Pain at Night
Are you plagued by joint pain at night? Joint pain at night is no picnic, and it can be caused by one or more of several factors. Nighttime Joint Pain vs. Muscle Aches “The first [...]
Cause of the Ache in Your Tailbone when Sitting
Here's what can cause the ache in your tailbone when you’ve been sitting. And what to do. Does your tailbone hurt after you’ve been sitting for a while, even though you haven’t recently fallen on [...]
Why Your Grip Can Be Causing Elbow Pain when Bench Pressing
There's a specific reason why your elbow hurts or feels "funny" when you bench press. The tweaky kind of pain may occur the most as you remove the bar from the rack, then lessen a [...]
Cause of Sudden Severe Shoulder Pain that Comes and Goes
Find out why you get sudden “pain attacks” in your shoulder that can stop you in your tracks. You’re just sitting there, maybe watching TV or eating, when suddenly, it strikes out of the blue: [...]
Cause of Stabbing Ankle Pain that Comes and Goes
Find out the likely causes of that awful, stabbing pain in your ankle that comes out of the blue. You haven’t broken your ankle; you haven’t even twisted it. Yet every so often you get [...]
Will Surgical Tibia Lengthening Improve Back Squat Leverage?
More and more people are having their tibias or shins surgically lengthened strictly for cosmetic purposes: that of being taller. Surgical techniques for tibia lengthening have improved over the years, and people who desperately want [...]
Low Back Pain after Sitting: Cause & Solutions
Sitting should not have to cause low back pain, and there are things you can do to remedy this annoying problem. Why do some people have low back pain after sitting for a while? Let’s [...]
Complete Back & Biceps Routines You Can Do with Golfer’s Elbow
Can’t do pulling exercises (rows, chin-ups, deadlifts) because of elbow pain? I have the solution. Elbow pain often comes in the form of “golfer’s elbow.” This is an inflammation of the tendon on the inner [...]
Golfer’s Elbow: How to Do Shoulder Shrugs if You Can’t Grip
There’s actually a way to do the shoulder shrug exercise against heavy resistance if you can’t grip due to golfer’s elbow. Golfer’s elbow has the potential to make gripping hurt, since the medial epicondyle tendon [...]
How to Do Inverted Rows with Golfer’s Elbow
Believe it or not, there are two ways to do inverted rows while protecting your golfer’s elbow from further injury or pain. If you have golfer’s elbow, you can actually do sets of inverted rows. [...]
How to Do Lat Pull Downs with Golfer’s Elbow
If you have golfer’s elbow, here is how to perform the lat pull-down without gripping a bar or handle. If your golfer’s elbow makes it painful to pull against resistance, this means you can’t do [...]
How to Do Biceps Curls with Golfer’s Elbow
Learn how to do biceps curls even if you must avoid gripping due to golfer’s elbow. You need not give up biceps-targeted exercises just because you can’t grip due to golfer’s elbow. There are two [...]
How to Do a Bench Press with Golfer’s Elbow
If golfer’s elbow interferes with your bench press, here’s a way to help get around this problem. If your golfer’s elbow is bad enough, bench pressing will aggravate it. I’m a former personal trainer who [...]
Golfer’s Elbow: Inverted Row with TRX Suspension Device
If you have golfer's elbow, here's how to do inverted rows without any gripping by using a TRX suspension device. Whether or not you have golfer’s elbow, the TRX setup is the same: Make sure [...]
Can Chronic Anxiety Cause Fast Resting Heart Rate?
A fast resting pulse is not good for the heart, and unfortunately, a stressful life can cause this. Stress is bad for the heart, and one way this is so is because chronic stress or [...]
How Long Can Chest Pain from a Heart Problem Last?
Heart problems, namely severely clogged arteries, cause chest pain -- even at rest if the disease is severe enough. But how short is too short for chest pain to be heart related? “Anginal chest pain [...]
Low Ejection Fraction without Congestive Heart Failure?
Can a person have a low ejection fraction, even like 35 percent, yet not have congestive heart failure? Ejection fraction means how much blood the heart pumps out with each beat. For this article I [...]