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Cycling Stuff Healthy Living Reflection

Dear America: Embrace the bike culture…It’s heart healthy

I love cycling. Being outdoors, pedaling, feeling the swoosh of the wind, these are all sensations that more people should enjoy. They are sensations of happiness. And oh, does the heart love happiness. I also love my country. America is an amazing place. If you take a moment to really look past the mundane of […]

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Doctoring Reflection

Film recommendation — Amour teaches important lessons about humanity

It goes without saying that having an appreciation for humanity is critical for doctoring. One of the areas of medicine that is most tragic is how we treat the elderly. If I could change one thing about medical care, I would make the care of the elderly more gentle. Dr Dan Matlock (@Dan_Matlock) is a […]

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Reflection Social Media/Writing/Blogging

The enormous power of Social Media in health care.

I recently gave a lecture on Social Media to medical student leaders at Indiana University. The experience energized me. It also promoted thought-provoking questions. Let’s consider two of the best questions. This one came by email. I was wondering if you have any suggestions on how to write a twitter post to direct people to […]

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AF ablation Atrial fibrillation Doctoring General Ablation General Cardiology

New post up on theHeart.org/Medscape Cardiology…Where is the progress in Cardiology?

On the way home from the American College of Cardiology meeting this spring, I wrote a post about the lack of real progress in Cardiology. I got to thinking: Here I was attending major meetings all over the world, and few, if any, studies struck me as game-changers. Everything seemed so painfully incremental. So many […]

Categories
Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed Cyclocross Reflection

Leadership, teamwork, volunteerism and goodwill…makes stuff work

(Editor’s note: You can skip the words and toggle down to the images at the end.) This past week was about bike racing. As most of you know, I (and my wife and son) race bikes for a local cycling team. Our title sponsor is Papa John’s Pizza, which is headquartered in Louisville. It sounds […]

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Reflection Social Media/Writing/Blogging

Trying out a new look

After four years and 823 posts, it was time to try a new look. The old format was getting both wonky and tired. So I did something that doctors struggle with: I changed. I’m not sure that I am settled on the colors and fonts yet, but most of the old stuff is there. The […]

Categories
Cycling Stuff Exercise Healthy Living inflammation

Prolonged exercise leads to heart damage — pro/con debate

Dr. Larry Creswell, of the Athlete’s heart blog, just posted an interesting debate from the Journal of Physiology. The question of whether longterm endurance exercise leads to heart damage is a hotly contested issue in cardiology. For those who are curious about this intriguing topic, his links lead to very readable prose. Larry suggests paying […]

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Social Media/Writing/Blogging

Social Media as an agent for change in healthcare information

I am going up to Indianapolis this Saturday to talk with a group of medical student leaders. I was asked to present on the role of social media. Along these lines, I have to show you something that I found this morning. I was studying the FDA review panel’s evaluation of the Block-HF trial, when […]

Categories
Cycling Stuff Cycling Wed

Not your average 10 year-old…

In bike speak there’s an action verb called ‘shredding.’ This boy is shredding. I have only three comments; then watch this beautiful 3-minute video. 1) What does his mother think? Surely, he’s not a first or only child. 2) British Columbia is a place I want to visit with a bike. 3) Love youth. #whatwereyoudoingat10 […]

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Cycling Stuff Reflection

Why didn’t anybody listen to Lemond? Why don’t we learn from history?

I began cycling for real in the 1990s. This was in no small part due to Greg Lemond. He was an American sporting hero. And, as history teaches us, he still is, now more than ever. History reveals so much. Darn hindsight is crystal clear. In the late 1990s through 2005, when Lance Armstrong’s unbelievable […]

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General Medicine Health Care Healthy Living Nutrition Uncategorized

Health lessons from Reverend Al Sharpton…

However you see the Reverend Al Sharpton, one thing is certain: you see less of him now. His Twitter pic tells you he is proud of his 167-pound weight loss. Good for him, he should be. If you care about health, the disappearance of the Sharpton-of-old is worth mention. His story teaches us a lot, […]