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 […]
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You can mark August 2011 as an amazing month for news in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). In this post, I will attempt to share what I have learned about the two new blood-thinning drugs, apixaban and rivaroxaban–both Factor Xa inhibitors. (Disclaimer: this is not a book chapter, rather a blog post from a […]
One of the coolest things about keeping a medical blog is interacting with people. It’s immensely gratifying to hear from folks that stumble upon my site. Take this example: While cooling down after tonight’s ride, a cycling friend and ER doc mentioned that my website turned up on his Google search of the new blood-thinner […]
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 […]
The unrelenting epidemic of inactivity and excessive eating wreaks havoc on more than just the heart and blood vessels. Lugging around extra weight also breaks down the joints and back. For evidence, look no further than the waiting room of any orthopedist; the people waiting for joint replacements look the same as those waiting to […]
It’s been awhile since I have written about the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). I would like to remedy this by sharing a few thoughts on three recent stories about AF: one involved a soon-to-be-approved blood-thinning drug; the second highlighted a potentially exciting new device for ablating AF, and the third story irresponsibly sensationalized the […]
Today, I would like to tell you about the most effective way to treat the most common heart ailment, atrial fibrillation (AF). It’s not the novel anticoagulant drugs. Though it’s obvious that having stroke prevention options other than warfarin represents a significant advance. It’s not burning the left atrium with an ablation catheter. Though it’s […]
My iPhone vibrated with an urgent message that read: Please call…The INR on your atrial fibrillation patient scheduled for cardioversion is too low. He is on that new blood thinner, Pradaxa. What do you want to do?” I responded, sounding like an expert: “It’s Ok. Pradaxa thins the blood adequately, it just doesn’t change the […]
The experiment took thirty-three minutes and forty-one seconds.  That’s about the time it takes to see a new heart-rhythm patient or implant a defibrillator. I was just curious. I wanted to dip my toes into the icy waters which so many primary care doctors have already acclimated to. A denial? Are they kidding, that medicine […]
Over the past 16 years, the Boston AF Symposium has earned a reputation for excellence. Dr Jeremy Ruskin, the meeting’s senior director and founder, squeezes more learning into three days than would seem possible. It’s a mystery how he gets that many of Earth’s greatest AF-doctors to Boston in January. Though this year’s edition coincided […]
The end of the year marks a time for list-intensive posts. Recently, Larry Husten, from Cardio-Exchange and Cardiobrief, asked for my opinion on the three most important cardiology-related news stories of 2010. Additionally, he also wanted three predictions for 2011. (I assume cardiology predictions.) Here goes… My top three cardiology stories of 2010: —By far, the […]