Imagine if there was an emerging epidemic of slow cyclists. It wasn’t always like this. Despite their lack of feather-light bikes, carbon-soled shoes, wind-cheating lycra, people used to go really fast on their bikes. Are you still imagining? Imagine if people spent more money on “things†that might make them faster: they buy better equipment, […]
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Did you know September is AFib awareness month? As a believer in education as the first, and best treatment of AF, I think it’s great to enhance the public knowledge of this highly-misunderstood disease. By all means… Tell people about AF’s risks: stroke and heart failure. Tell them that their fatigue, poor exercise tolerance and […]
The most famous medical blogger once direct-messaged me this advice: “One thing I have learned from blogging is to never engage criticism.†I’m going to break this advice. The robustness of the response over the Ironman piece shocked me. As a bike racer, a cardiologist, and a happily married man, I have grown thick skin. […]
Before I even start, let me say this to my triathlete friends… I really like you all. And…I am sorry for how I feel about your sport’s pinnacle, the Ironman triathlon. But I was poked into writing this post. When asked the question of whether the Ironman is safe for the middle-aged heart, what was […]
How could it have happened? He was strong; do you remember how he could get uphill? He was fit; can you ever recall seeing him out of shape? His blood pressure was perfect, low even. He bragged about his exemplary cholesterol levels. He was lean and mean. Wait a minute…what was that about being mean? […]
It may seem a little formal to say this, but I would like to start by stating my goals for today’s post: Introduce the concept of the athletic heart; Touch upon the notion of sudden death of the athlete; Explain what an ECG really is, and how it may help diagnose heart disease; Review a […]
People who exercise outdoors face a new threat. It’s unrelenting. Consistent. Inescapable. Perhaps, even more dangerous than distracted or mean motorists. It’s the heat. Gosh, is it hot. If only I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say, “Doctor M, you aren’t riding in this heat; are you?†Well…Other than the fortunate […]
I recently came across a very important blog post on the use of the novel new blood-thinner, dabigatran (Pradaxa). Fellow Kentucky cardiologist, and frequent TheHeart.org contributor, Dr. Melissa Walton-Shirley wrote this very detailed case presentation involving a cantankerous non-compliant rural patient with AF (atrial fibrillation) that sustained a stroke while “taking†dabigatran. Dr. Walton-Shirley details […]
Reports documenting the dangers of Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) continue to generate headlines. It’s a steady stream of bad news for patients who take these widely-available pain relievers. Sorry about the repetition folks, but it’s hard to ignore my daily email updates from the American College of Cardiology when they so directly pertain to endurance athletes. […]
The Biology of Omega-3 fatty acids: (Just a little science:) When fish, flax-seeds or Brussels sprouts pass through the intestine, pancreatic enzymes transform the fat to free fatty acids. These acids are quickly taken up by the cells. Once in the cell, these fatty acids enter the mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and cytosol–places that you might […]
Time-out! (After three days of some heavy non-fiction concerning atrial fibrillation, may I lighten up a bit, and have some fun free-lancing about health, exercise and genes?) Here goes… Good health flows from our genes. Our brains focus, eyes peer, adrenals secret, nodes depolarize, ventricles squeeze, valves open, and then close, muscles flex, and relax, bones […]