They have the look. Their faces are chiseled; the cheekbones are easily visible because the body is devoid of fat. Their eyes speak fatigue. They are not refugees. Have they been stricken with a calorie-eating tapeworm? No. They are middle-aged physicians conversing in the doctors lounge. I see them pulling up their scrub bottoms to […]
Images taken via the iPhone on visiting the cardiac nurses lounge today. Indeed, it seems America is running to Dunkin. Now for the closer: KFC’s double down. Fried chicken as the bun, processed white flour, saturated fat, pork fat, dairy fat, special sauce and nearly an entire days worth of sodium masquerading as food. […]
Malpractice and heart catheterization are in the news today. A spicy concoction for sure. An epidemiological study published in an obscure online (and overpriced) subsidiary of Circulation addresses the role of three major medical issues facing cardiologists today: malpractice, heart catheterization, and medical costs. The summary details of the study have already been published in many […]
Education just rocks. For me, life is best when I am learning new things. It is why medicine is so fulfilling. Learning happens on a daily basis. The blogging disease has pushed out TV, except the occasional TIVO’ed News Hour. Jim Lehrer introduced me to one of the most remarkable educational websites ever. And it […]
The heart’s resilience and fixability is striking. That is, compared to the frailty of other components of the birthday-ravaged body. We cardiologists are advantaged by the attention heart disease garners in the minds of patients. We get priority over the polyp, or the bulging disc. But should we? He is an older man living a […]
Many of my athletic colleagues have shared their arrhythmia stories, both publicly and privately. The volume of these correspondences have surprised me. It is clear from reading many of these stories, that a few points of clarification are needed. I was furhter inspired to write more on the athlete conundrum after reading this Facebook status […]
It was a brightly lit wide open room with many cubicles arranged on the periphery. The test takers were grown-ups, but all carried that worried student look. The secretary at the desk who checks you in makes TSA people seem jovial. No personal effects were allowed, including a full-fledge divorce of the cell phone. Mysteriously, […]
The patient is anxiously sitting on the exam table. A notebook, a pencil and many papers from the internet and other doctors are close at hand. A spouse sits in the accompanying chair with an equally anxious face that says without words, “please help us out here.” The problem at hand is atrial fibrillation. Paroxysms […]
I walked out of the hospital with heavy shoulders and my head held low. It was many years ago as a younger doctor. An arrhythmia arose from a difficult area to navigate to, and in trying hard to ablate this area, a terrible complication ensued. The rest of the day was spent dealing with this […]
It is true that chronically drilling oneself out on a bike may predispose to atrial fibrillation, or AC separation. But cycling is not all bad. Take this case from the most recent NEJM as a striking example of one of the many benefits of cycling. It is a 56 year old man with completely disabling […]