It’s late at night, the pain is transcendent and worse yet, I am tangled up in tubes in a sweat-soaked hospital bed. The collapsed lung, fractured ribs and chest tube have transformed an independent doctor into a needy patient. She answered my ring right away, coming to my aid quickly and with a warm demeanor, […]
Unfortunately, there are therapies in medical practice which become worse than the disease they are intended to treat. Us heart specialists are not immune from these transformative therapies. Even dumber than the ineffective rhythm drug that comes highly recommended by academia, is the LifeVest: a wearable automatic shock collar for people. He was in his […]
Education just rocks. For me, life is best when I am learning new things. It is why medicine is so fulfilling. Learning happens on a daily basis. The blogging disease has pushed out TV, except the occasional TIVO’ed News Hour. Jim Lehrer introduced me to one of the most remarkable educational websites ever. And it […]
The heart’s resilience and fixability is striking. That is, compared to the frailty of other components of the birthday-ravaged body. We cardiologists are advantaged by the attention heart disease garners in the minds of patients. We get priority over the polyp, or the bulging disc. But should we? He is an older man living a […]
From the drug rep of the huge pharmaceutical company promoting a new anti-arrhythmic drug: “Dr Mandrola, you are a leader in the area so we would like you to be on our speakers bureau. Of course, you are reimbursed for your time” “Really?” Maybe they know about my blog, I wonder. “Sure, we can send […]
Nearly eight weeks have passed since young Vincent Nold suddenly left us. His passage from life on Earth was as tragic as can be imagined. The grief invaded the biology of our existence bringing a palpable tension to our hearts. Such sadness was previously unknown to me. Staci and I coached Vincent in running, and […]
He grabs your hand enthusiastically and looks you in the eye and says in the most convincing tone possible, “nice to meet you Doctor.” So it was at the Lincoln Day dinner given by the Republican Party of Jefferson County, (Louisville) KY. Staci and I were invited guests of the May’s, friends whom we […]
To live long, there are many guidelines and much to avoid. There is now published data suggesting boredom is a risk for an earlier death. One who is engaged in health reads the litany of things that are detrimental to our existence, and it seems impossible to believe that average lifespans are rising. There are the obvious […]
Remarkable. The scene is the Brown Theatre, Louisville Ky. The crowd, primarily women but surprisingly not all with painted eyebrows filters in and there is this sense that others are looking at each other for validation. I study their faces to determine whether they are believers and then realize many look at me with the […]
Last spring in the warmth I finish talking to my friend, a gardener, and he speaks of his engagement with non-cycling endeavors and inability to ride the bike for hours. Hanging up the phone I am perplexed. How can this be? But now after the third and final day of the atrial fibrillation symposium I […]
In the doctors lunch room… “Hey doc, are you riding your bike in this weather?” “It is the off-season, I am resting my body and exercising the mind.” A look of bewilderment, like what does “off season” mean? I quickly remember that “normal” people do not do this nonsense that is bike racing. Three months […]