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General Ablation General Cardiology Health Care Healthy Living

New post up on Cardiology Medscape: Lessons learned from the failure of Renal denervation for high blood pressure

Most people come by it honestly. They eat too much, move too little, skimp on sleep, take on too much stress and then succumb to buying larger clothes. The word we use in medicine is insidious. High blood pressure (hypertension – HTN) is one of the leading cardiovascular problems of this time. Some have called […]

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AF ablation Atrial fibrillation Doctoring Health Care Healthy Living Hospice/Palliative Care

Two gifts and a consolation prize

President Obama has a few good ideas. He wants Americans to discuss healthcare this holiday season. That’s actually a really good idea. This blog aims to do some good in the area of medicine and health. What follows are two incredibly important essays. The consolation prize is an excerpt from my recent Top Ten post. […]

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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, […]

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Doctoring Health Care Health Care Reform Healthy Living

ObamaCare will not make us sick…

On day 1 of ObamaCare, the headline in our paper said “SHUTDOWN.” It’s here; it’s really here. You might be wondering what’s been going on in the hospital or office–the contact points where healthcare actually happens. The funny thing is: nothing seems any different. And…this is the problem with ObamaCare. It hasn’t, won’t, or perhaps […]

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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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AF ablation Atrial fibrillation

Atrial Flutter — 15 facts you may want to know.

I get a lot of questions about atrial flutter. Atrial flutter is a common arrhythmia that shares many similarities to its next of kin, AFib; but there are important differences. Let’s go over 15 basic facts and important points about atrial flutter. (In plain English.) 1. Atrial flutter is defined as a rapid but organized […]

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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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Athletic heart Doctoring General Cardiology

Is it safe to start training?

Before beginning to read, please know that what follows is just a long-winded introduction to a post that featured me as an expert. You can can scroll down to the link if you wish. — This is that time of year. It’s a nice time. Longer days, warmer temps and big doses of hope power […]

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Exercise General Cardiology Healthy Living Nutrition

Do doctors know how to treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol?

Blood pressure and cholesterol problems affect millions. These are the bread, butter and sugary drinks of Internal Medicine and general Cardiology practice. It stands to reason then, that the treatment of these basic maladies would be well agreed upon. Guidelines and expert consensus statements would be clear and up-to-date. But this is far from reality. […]

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Doctoring Health Care

What mammography says about the practice of Medicine…

If you read one article that explains where we are going in Medicine, read this one. Few procedures have been more entrenched in the dogma of Medical practice than mammograms. In our climate of political correctness and right-think, it would define heretical to suggest a procedure that detects breast cancer–an important killer of women–at an […]

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AF ablation Atrial fibrillation

New Trials and Fibrillations post: Update on atrial scarring and fibrosis — The Utah classification of AF

Since writing about how obesity acts directly on the atria I have received a number of good questions. Most centered around the permanency and reversibility of fat-related cardiac effects. Even my partner mentioned to me that fat actually inserts itself between heart muscle cells. Wonder where he read that? Questions about a post are always […]