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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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General Cardiology Health Care Healthy Living inflammation Nutrition

Heart health is not about Telomeres…It’s much simpler than that

A recent study on healthy lifestyle changes got me thinking about why heart disease remains the most deadly human disease. A small study of just a few motivated men with low-risk prostate cancer garnered attention because it contained two important key words: Ornish and Telomeres. Everyone knows Dr. Dean Ornish. And most of us know […]

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Doctoring Health Care Health Care Reform Reflection

Thoughts on being a flexible doctor

Flexibility… -Bend easy without breaking. -The ability to be easily modified. -Willingness to change or compromise. Social media physician leader Dr. Bryan Vartabedian wrote a post last week in which he called flexibility a necessary skill of the 21st century doctor. He got the idea from another physician leader, Dr. Eric Topol. I’ve been thinking […]

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AF ablation Atrial fibrillation Cycling Stuff Doctoring Exercise Healthy Living inflammation

Day 2 ESC — AF ablation and more bike commuting

Okay, I’m getting the hang of this. The Monday morning and evening commute in Amsterdam is something special. You talk about focus. It requires laser-like focus. You’ve got bikes, narrow lanes, buses, trams, pedestrians and tourists. Still though, traveling 6k by bike took 15 minutes; a cab from the convention center, more than 30. I […]

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Doctoring Health Care Reform Reflection

The downside of racing around so fast…

Be sure: what follows are not complaints; these are just the facts. — Here’s a recent exchange from an enlightened physician leader, one who has yet to give up: “My colleagues are discouraged and frustrated every day, leaving the office defeated and fatigued. There are other ways to practice.” High healthcare costs get most of […]

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Athletic heart Atrial fibrillation General Ablation General Cardiology Healthy Living inflammation Uncategorized

Heart disease 101: AF and Coronary Artery Disease — related, incidental or both?

There were many good questions raised on my last post. Thanks. One particularly relevant theme concerned the relationship of atrial fibrillation (AF) and coronary artery disease (CAD). There’s a great deal of misunderstanding out there on how these two common disease relate to each other. I thought a few paragraphs might be useful. On the […]

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Athletic heart General Cardiology Health Care Healthy Living inflammation

The George W Bush stent case: An incredible teaching opportunity on the basics of heart disease

The wrist artery hardly had time to seal. (Surely it was a radial.) The controversy came that fast. The drumbeat of naysayers seemed to start only minutes after a prideful press release announced that George W Bush had undergone successful cardiac stent placement. The ever-quotable cardiologist from Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Steven Nissen, said, “This is […]

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Atrial fibrillation Cycling Wed Exercise inflammation

Think twice before getting an injection for low back pain or sciatica

It’s been a while since I did a Cycling Wednesday topic. As I was skimming thorough the Journal of the American Medical Association last night, I came across this review article on spinal injection therapy for low back pain. It was a shocker. Two factors brought my attention to the article: First, almost all the […]

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Athletic heart General Cardiology General Medicine

Benign PVCs: A heart rhythm doctor’s approach.

Here is an edited email I received from an athletic colleague: John, Quick question…. A 50 year-old male healthy athlete has the new problem of occasional periods of premature beats. He (or she, it doesn’t matter) has visited the doctor and an ECG shows PVCs, or premature ventricular contractions. Otherwise the history, exam, ECG, ECHO […]

Categories
AF ablation Atrial fibrillation

Is it better to burn or freeze atrial fibrillation?

What a trouble it is! As a disease that associates with wear and tear, aging, obesity, sleep disorders, high blood pressure and inflammation, it’s no wonder the incidence of atrial fibrillation continues to rise. AF represents a huge health problem. For the individual patient, it can cause life-altering symptoms, increase the risk of stroke or […]

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Reflection

Both sorrow and fear about the Boston tragedy

Smarter people have weighed in on the sadness in Boston. I can’t help it. Writing helps me feel better. I am really sorry for the people who have lost life or limb. As a parent, grandparent, scratch that, as a fellow human, just thinking about bombs and bullets hitting human bodies makes me want to […]