Wait… Before reading any further, I would like to issue a warning. If your ideas about healthcare delivery are of an older ilk; if you cling white-knuckled to past dogma, please stop reading now. What follows may cause your atria to fibrillate. Last month I wrote that the best tool for treating atrial fibrillation (AF) […]
Category: Atrial fibrillation
I have become an AF-doctor. That means my most exciting aspect of medicine is terminating AF with watts delivered through a catheter. “Got it.” In that beautiful moment, the take-the-fun-out-of-medicine people seem far away. Huge grin! Though all that high-tech stuff is exhilarating, it’s fair to say that the most remarkable thing in AF medicine […]
Almost everything about the new blood-thinning drug, dabigatran (Pradaxa) is novel. In February, I wrote about the drug’s unusually short (thirty-day) expiration time. This week, the FDA has released a new communication concerning dabigatran. It included practical safety tips for patients, pharmacists and doctors, and is nicely summarized by Larry Husten, on Cardiobrief. Here are […]
Today, I would like to tell you about the most effective way to treat the most common heart ailment, atrial fibrillation (AF). It’s not the novel anticoagulant drugs. Though it’s obvious that having stroke prevention options other than warfarin represents a significant advance. It’s not burning the left atrium with an ablation catheter. Though it’s […]
About a year ago I wrote about the inflammation of business travel. My first-hand experience helped me understand why so many middle-aged jet-setters turn up with heart rhythm problems. Basically, I found out that life on the road serves up stress. Yesterday, I met business travel’s first cousin: taking your child to an over-scheduled all-day […]
I hope we are right. Dabigatran (Pradaxa) use in my community has taken off. It’s not just AF-doctors, it’s all doctors, internists and cardiologists alike. Honestly, it’s a little scary. That’s why I read with great interest anytime other practicing doctors speak about how they use the 4-month-old blood-thinner. Remember, this is not a just […]
My iPhone vibrated with an urgent message that read: Please call…The INR on your atrial fibrillation patient scheduled for cardioversion is too low. He is on that new blood thinner, Pradaxa. What do you want to do?” I responded, sounding like an expert: “It’s Ok. Pradaxa thins the blood adequately, it just doesn’t change the […]
There was important news concerning the short shelf-life of the novel new blood-thinner, dabigatran (Pradaxa) reported today. Once dispensed, most medicines expire after a year. Dabigatran, however, is far from the usual pill. It’s packaged in pellet form within a capsule. These pellets are highly susceptible to water and humidity. So when dispensed in a […]
The experiment took thirty-three minutes and forty-one seconds.  That’s about the time it takes to see a new heart-rhythm patient or implant a defibrillator. I was just curious. I wanted to dip my toes into the icy waters which so many primary care doctors have already acclimated to. A denial? Are they kidding, that medicine […]
On Wednesdays I like to mesh cycling, healthy living and medicine. In this regard, the conflicts surrounding drinking alcohol work well. What other organic chemical is more debated? Here goes. Let’s start with the cyclists’ view of alcohol. Mountain-bikers’ love of beer is axiomatic. Cyclocross riders also fancy beer, this, primarily because they worship all […]
Over the past 16 years, the Boston AF Symposium has earned a reputation for excellence. Dr Jeremy Ruskin, the meeting’s senior director and founder, squeezes more learning into three days than would seem possible. It’s a mystery how he gets that many of Earth’s greatest AF-doctors to Boston in January. Though this year’s edition coincided […]