From the monthly archives:
“A person who has not passed through the inferno of their passions has never overcome them.” C.G. Jung (Blogger author’s note: Heart conditions are good training for the inferno.) One of the more difficult aspects of having a heart condition is the anxiety that goes with it — while many diseases and medical problems are [...]
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Medstory Well designed search engine specifically for health issues Medline Plus From the National Institute of Health; large database of relevant articles Yahoo Directory The most comprehensive directory for health and heart conditions Open Directory Project Another good starting place for health and heart conditions PubMed Comprehensive listing of research publications Scirus Most comprehensive scientific [...]
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From the American Heart Association December 22, 2010 The American Heart Association has compiled its annual list of the top 10 major advances in heart disease. “We have come far in the past decade, reducing heart disease deaths by more than 27 percent,” said Ralph Sacco of the University of Miami. “But we know there [...]
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Mayo Clinic The good folks at the Mayo Clinic have the most medically reliable, evidence based medical information on the Web. Medline Plus Sometimes, most of the time, government run websites are bland and boring. This one is well-designed and comprehensive. Center for Disease Control and Prevention In spite of their frequent mis-use by Big [...]
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When I was at the Mayo Clinic last year, the day before I was to undergo major surgery, I found myself in atrium of the beautiful Gonda building. Playing the grand piano was a white-haired woman,who was at least in her seventies. Next to her sat a clearly disabled, elderly man who sang, in a [...]
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All the research–not to mention common sense–suggests that expressing positive emotions is good for your heart. So here is a top ten list of happy songs for your heart: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Whistle While you Work Frank Sinatra On the Sunny Side of the Street Walt Disney Productions Hakuna Matata Barbra Streisand [...]
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Face it, the Holidays can be depressing. You’re missing your family…you don’t have a family…you have a family… you’re mad at you family…your family is mad at you.. you’re out of money … you’re out of time… it’s winter and you live in Fairbanks…. It’s time to cry. The way out is through — get [...]
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Apparently, research suggests that music is good for the heart! (Obviously, no surprise here, but an increased brachial artery flow of 26% does sound good.)(Article is at end of this post,) So, in addition to singing along with your favorite Christmas tunes, here are ten heart healthy heart songs: Neil Young Heart of Gold Janis [...]
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“Top Ten” lists are very popular on the Web. I think it is partially because there is so much information out there that this becomes a way of prioritizing information. (Did it all start with David Letterman?) I may be jaded, but I don’t find all of these facts “amazing” and especially not “the top [...]
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Four of Time Magazine‘s selections for the top medical breakthrough of the last year involve the heart — Avandia, CPR, a blood test for heart attack, and the development of stem cells. On the average, medical practice is about fifteen to twenty years behind the research. So the average patient may have to wait at [...]
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I’ve seen Richard Holbrooke on the news since the Vietnam War. I didn’t quite appreciate how decent and exceptional a man he was until his death yesterday. Heart problems continue to alter history; this is a major loss for the Forces of Good. Sometimes history is decided by the slimmest of margins, as are our [...]
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Heart attack portrayal critique Good Jack Nicholson is always good, especially when he is bad. He looked desperate and hopeless (although heart attacks are often not so obvious). Diane Keaton swore at him, but still took action. The ambulance was called immediately. Neutral Never saw the ambulance. First care is usually given in the ambulance. [...]
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Richard Pryor was one of the best and edgiest comedians, ever. Bob Newhart called him “the seminal comedian of the last 50 years.” He had his first heart attack in 1977. In 1990, Pryor suffered a more severe heart attack and underwent triple heart bypass surgery. He died in 2005 from cardiac arrest; however, he [...]
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A previous post suggested that IPhone users (3% of the population) are daydreaming 47% of the time, and that they were happiest when they were living in the present. (Duh, give up the IPhone.) Now, with modern technology, one can go a step further now, and get a scarf that vibrates when you are not [...]
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This article suggests an interesting variable in the research about depression, happiness and heart disease — that it is the expression of the happiness, and not just an internal feeling of happiness, that it is the critical variable. It makes me wonder whether this also applies to depression — if one actually expresses the depression [...]
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One always has to be skeptical of research. This research suggests that people’s minds are wandering 47% of the time. (It also may be more characteristics of people who carry Iphones, who I suspect actually like multi-tasking) It continues to suggest how important the mind is in one’s feeling of well-being; learning how to focus [...]
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I confess, I don’t like being told what to do. If someone says to me, “Smile”, it is about the last thing I want to do. These people are not accepting my dark side and think I should be different than I am. (My dark side, in fact, would like to take the smile off [...]
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This article highlights an interesting problem with placebo research — the ingredients in the placebo itself. Note that it mentions a study where heart patients did better with a placebo — the placebo had olive oil in it, which may have been a helpful ingredient. However, I think most people and researchers are missing the [...]
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