Chest Wall Pain and Its Causes
Chest wall pain, or musculoskeletal chest pain, is pain which originates in the muscles or ribs of the chest. Chest wall pain is a common diagnosis in people who seek emergency care for chest pain. There are many causes of chest wall pain, and while most are benign and self-limited, some require a definitive diagnosis and treatment - so it is important to pin down the specific cause whenever possible....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 26, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Medical Treatment for Coronary Artery Disease
Evidence from clinical trials now indicates that in patients with stable angina, medical treatment can be as effective as the more invasive treatments we hear so much about, treatments like bypass surgery, angioplasty and stents....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 23, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Syncope and Its Causes
The medical name for fainting spells, or a temporary loss of consciousness, is syncope (sin-co-pee). Syncope is a pretty common symptom, and it it thought that most people will experience syncope at least once in their lives. Still, because it may be a sign of a serious underlying medical problem, if you have syncope, you should contact your doctor to discuss the need for an evaluation....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 19, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Heart Failure and Insomnia
Insomnia is common enough in anybody. But if you have heart failure, you are especially prone to sleep disorders of several types that can rob you of your rest, leave you with chronic sleep deprivation - and worsen your cardiac condition....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 16, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Kidney Disease and the Heart
If you have kidney disease, in addition to all the other health issues you need to pay attention to, you need to consider the effect of kidney disease on the heart. People with kidney disease, unfortunately, are at an especially high risk of developing heart disease. Fortunately, there are things you can do to substantially reduce that risk....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 12, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Sleep Apnea in Heart Failure
One of the most common symptoms experienced by people who have heart failure is poor sleep. And, while there are several causes of sleep disorders in heart failure, the most common is sleep apnea - prolonged pauses in breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea causes several problems, including lots of disturbing symptoms related to sleep deprivation, hypertension, and cardiac arrhythmias....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 9, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Diastolic Dysfunction
More and more people today are being told that they have "diastolic dysfunction" (or diastolic heart failure.) Diastolic dysfunction occurs when the ventricles of the heart become relatively "stiff," and thus it becomes relatively difficult to fill the ventricles with blood in between heart beats. Read what causes diastolic dysfunction, how it is diagnosed, what it means to have it, and how it is treated, here. (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 5, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Why Is Raynaud Phenomenon So Variable?
Q. "My sister has Raynaud phenomenon, and refuses to do grocery shopping because, she says, she can't walk down the freezer aisle without her fingers turning white. But she skis all day, out on the cold slopes, without complaining. I say if she can ski, she can go out to buy the frozen mac and cheese for the family. Am I right?" John from Ohio...Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - May 3, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Pulmonary Embolus
Pulmonary embolus - a blood clot that becomes lodged in the pulmonary artery - is a very common and very serious problem. Up to 30% of people who have pulmonary embolus will die unless they receive treatment....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - April 28, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) for Heart Failure
In some patients with heart failure, a new kind of pacemaker can re-coordinate the muscular function of the damaged heart, relieving the symptoms of heart failure, and reducing the odds of dying. Read about CRT here. (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - April 24, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
How Syncope Should Be Evaluated
If you have had syncope (transient loss of consciousness), your doctor will want to do an evaluation to figure out what caused it. Fortunately, in most cases the evaluation of syncope should be pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, too many doctors fail to approach this problem in a systematic way, and their patients can wind up having unnecessary tests and experiencing unnecessary anxiety....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - April 21, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Treating Hypertension in Older People
Hypertension - high blood pressure - is at least as important in older people as it is in younger people. And it's at least as important that hypertension in older people be adequately, in order to prevent heart attacks and strokes. However, the treatment of hypertension in people above age 65 tends to be quite a bit trickier than it is in younger people....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - April 19, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Premature Ventricular Complexes (PVCs)
PVCs are a common form of cardiac arrhythmia, and their significance can be confusing to both patients and their doctors. Read about PVCs, how to tell if they're medically significant, and how they are treated, here. (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - April 13, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Should I Have A Coronary Calcium Scan?
A reader asks whether his doctor's recommendation that he have a coronary calcium scan - despite not having any cardiac symptoms, and with a normal stress test - is a reasonable one....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - April 11, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
Postpartum Cardiomyopathy
On rare occasions, pregnancy can lead to a condition called postpartum cardiomyopathy, or pregnancy-associated heart failure.
Women who develop postpartum cardiomyopathy experience the onset of heart failure either during the last month of pregnancy, or within five months of delivering a baby. These women have no prior underlying heart disease, and no other identifiable reason to develop heart disease. Their heart failure can be a temporary, self-limited condition, or can progress to severe, life-threatening heart failure....Read Full Post (Source: About.com Heart Disease)
Source: About.com Heart Disease - April 7, 2014 Category: Cardiology Source Type: blogs
