From the category archives:
Journal of the American Medical Association 2008;300(24):2859-2866. Short Sleep Duration and Incident Coronary Artery Calcification From the Abstract Context Coronary artery calcification is a subclinical predictor of coronary heart disease. Recent studies have found that sleep duration is correlated with established risk factors for calcification including glucose regulation, blood pressure, sex, age, education, and body [...]
{ 0 comments }
I had a heart attack in November in Fairbanks when the weather was -10 degrees F. I have always wondered if it was the cold that almost killed me. For several years, the onset of winter was anxiety provoking because of this apparent relationship…. I am not sure what one can do about this, other [...]
{ 0 comments }
Continuing on the theme that it is healthy for your heart to warm your hands… In an experiment, college students experiencing physical warmth perceived emotional warmth in strangers. Talk about getting in touch with your feelings. NPR Dan Charles October 23, 2008 If you’re going out on a date anytime soon, you may find this [...]
{ 0 comments }
Continuing the theme that part of the problem with the anxiety after a trauma or heart attack is that it happens below the level of conscious awareness, that it is an automatic reaction that one’s life is in danger. This article assumes a visual input; with problems such as arrhythmias, the threat is coming from [...]
{ 0 comments }
From the perspective of evolutionary psychology, anxiety is an adaptive mechanism. If you are a zebra at a watering hole and the grass moves, you had better run like hell. Ninety-nine times out of hundred it will just be the wind; the one time it is a lion and you don’t run you will have [...]
{ 0 comments }
Strong earthquake jolts Anchorage by Rachel D’Oro The Associated Press 9/20/10 ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An earthquake jolted Anchorage on Monday and was felt well beyond Alaska’s largest city. The 4.9 magnitude quake struck at 1:24 p.m. about 10 miles southwest of Anchorage, according to earthquake monitors. There were no reports of injury or damage, but [...]
{ 0 comments }
(Continuing on the theme that “The way out is through”, that depression after a heart attack is not something that can be easily denied or medicated away…) Dream of Ravens On the mythological level, nigredo signifies the difficulties man has to overcome on his journey through the underworld. Nigredo is sometimes called ‘blacker than the [...]
{ 1 comment }
Medical News Today May 16, 2010 UC San Diego Health System is enrolling a small group of patients in a two-year study to examine the safety of a non-invasive cardiac shock wave procedure for patients with chest pain caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart. Angina pectoris is a debilitating form of pain that [...]
{ 0 comments }
Medical News Today; May 5, 2010 A diagnostic tool developed by Rice University scientists to detect heart attacks using a person’s saliva is being tested at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston. John T. McDevitt, professor of chemistry and bioengineering at Rice, and [...]
{ 0 comments }
Australian patients’ delay in response to heart attack symptoms objectives: To examine delay in seeking treatment among patients with an evolving acute myocardial infarction (MI), and to identify factors which contributed to this delay. Design: Patient interview combined with medical record review. Participants and setting: 317 patients with confirmed diagnosis of acute MI interviewed within [...]
{ 0 comments }
1970: Women’s experience and tolerance of cardiac surgery began to appear in medical literature [1] 1980: Increased focus on various health issues concerning women (abuse, breast cancer, menopause, cardiovascular health)[2] 1995: A chapter on cardiovascular disease in women was written for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada[3] 1997: The American Heart Association presented a [...]
{ 0 comments }
University of Washington (UW) researchers have gathered evidence that dangerous plaques in blood vessels can rupture by overproducing protein-digesting enzymes. Plaques are fat-laden rough spots in the otherwise smooth walls of arteries. When a plaque ruptures, blood accumulates inside of it, a process known as plaque hemorrhage. The plaque enlarges and artery-blocking clots can form. [...]
{ 0 comments }
These are some of the best sources of medical information on the Web: www.mayoclinic.com Reliable, evidence based medical information. Well-presented, well-written. www.clevelandclinic.org Good collection of resources for heart issues. www.askapatient.com A tremendous resource on medication; consumers writing about their experience and side effects of medication. Information that you will not see on a pharmaceutical website. [...]
{ 0 comments }
Strongly consider calling 911 Do not drive or have yourself driven to the hospital Call for an ambulance: they have equipment to help you CHEST DISCOMFORT OR PAIN This discomfort or pain can feel like a tight ache, pressure, fullness or squeezing in the center of your chest lasting more than a few minutes. This [...]
{ 0 comments }
New evidence was presented this week at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in Atlanta strongly suggesting that even patients with the less severe forms of Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) do better with immediate invasive therapy. Those “less severe” forms of ACS include unstable angina and Non-ST Segment Elevation Myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). All forms [...]
{ 0 comments }
A new US study found women’s knowledge of the warning signs of a heart attack is as poor as it was a decade ago, with half saying they would not call 9-1-1 if they were having heart attack symptoms; they also found that although getting narrower, there are still racial gaps in women’s awareness of [...]
{ 0 comments }
