The medical assistant who checked the patient in tells me, “Dr Mandrola, this guy had coronary artery disease since the 1980’s. He is 90 years-old now, and his only medicines are that statin and aspirin.” One of the more common questions that arises in cardiology is whether a person should take a statin drug. Despite […]
Category: Healthy Living
The fury of modern medicine reached new heights this week. And, it happened in my home city, best known for its two-minute horse race, baseball bats, and donut bacon cheeseburgers. It was both the surgery and its accompanying social media cheerleading that made the news. Hand surgeons at Jewish Hospital performed only the third double […]
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Dutch Cardiology…
There is always one, or at most a handful of crazies that would consider such folly. But in the Netherlands, 27 cardiologists have decided to ride (a charitable ride) to the European Society of Cardiology meeting. Amsterdam to Stockholm…and the answer is: 1000 miles. They even have a legendary Dutch cyclist as a coach, and […]
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Not funny…anymore
As most know, a good laugh is indeed good for the heart. I get this. However, in the case of using a donut bacon cheeseburger as a vehicle for making fun of the abysmal nutrition of KY state fair goers, the blurry line separating funny from not funny is clear, at least for me. What […]
This Wednesday it will be easy to combine cycling and medicine. So it was when I saw this prescient story that linked antagonistic personality traits and cardiovascular risk. It was simply impossible to ignore, especially on a Wednesday. Low hanging fruit, no doubt. It was an NIH sponsored study which looked at the effects of antagonistic […]
I would follow the lead of our country’s first Mom. This is serious folks. We, as an American society, need to solve the obesity crisis. Â Not just for our physical health, but for our country’s financial stability. Reducing the spiraling costs of health care is wanted by all. Â So far, prevention of the diseases which […]
Possessing great intelligence is not a guarantee for being right. Judges and professors are surely smart, but the quagmire that is the obesity epidemic can fell the smartest of the smart. So it is when a professor of public policy and a famous federal circuit judge, author and senior lecturer at the University of Chicago […]
Have you ever had a cold beer after a mountain bike ride? Oh my! But does such indulgence put one at risk for an arrhythmia? Does alcohol exacerbate an existing arrhythmia? How much, if any, alcohol is acceptable? These are questions I am asked frequently. And for those asking, they are very important questions. I […]
Have you decided to quit your day job and become a coach? A what? A burgeoning new advice industry has emerged. Former, or even current, athletes are now designers of athletic–and sometimes even life–programs for the over-acheiving mind-set. It is a good gig. You can sleep late, and save your legs by working primarily at […]
I need help. In dealing with obesity as a medical problem, that is. I am pretty solid at arrhythmia management, but as an obesity doctor, not so much. If I was the teacher, and my obese patients were the students, I would surely be fired for poor student test performance. At least, if the core measure […]
What would you be if life gave you a do-over–and stipulated you couldn’t be what you are now? It is true, I am a dreamer. I cried during Stand an Deliver. A believer in the power of passionate leadership am I. Finally, this Saturday morning, I was able to drink coffee, eat bagels and read […]