Harvard Medical School Commentaries: Healthy Heart
Jul202010
Do You Need C-Reactive Protein Testing?
For the last decade, the drumbeat has been building. New tests have come along that supposedly will improve our ability to estimate a person's risk of a heart attack. Right now, you are supposed to... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Jul202010
Are You Paying Too Much for Your Heart Medications?
First, let me say right up front that I don't view drug companies as "bad guys" — their investments in research have produced dozens of medications that are responsible for most of the progress in... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Jul202010
Erectile Dysfunction: The Bad News and the Bad News
More bad news about erectile dysfunction? Men must be wondering, "How much worse can it get?" Sexual performance issues aside, it is slowly dawning on doctors — and some of their patients — that... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Jul202010
New Year's Resolutions for Cardiac Patients
About the best thing you can say about New Year's resolutions is that you only have to make them once per year. That said, the end of one year and the beginning of the next represent an opportunity... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Jul202010
When The Heart Can't Relax
Heart failure does not actually mean that the heart is on a downward spiral toward loss of all function. Heart failure means that the heart is not pumping as effectively and as efficiently as it... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Feb232010
The Perfect Diet (Really!)
Many people feel overwhelmed by information on diets, and just want to know what to do. After all, there are so many diets out there right now, most doctors are every bit as confused as their... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Feb232010
When The Lights Go Out
He has always been squeamish, but it’s never been more than part of his charm. He has fainted when having his blood drawn, and gotten very woozy upon seeing the victim of an auto accident.
But now... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Jan112010
Obesity Surgery: Is It for You?
Every doctor can tell you their names — the patients who change their diet, begin exercising, and lose 40, 50, even 100 pounds. Along the way, those patients also lose something else: medical... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Jan112010
Raising Your 'Good' Cholesterol
For years now, everyone's attention has been on the "bad" cholesterol — LDL, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The goals were to get it below 130 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), then 100, and... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Dec82009
How Low Should Your Blood Pressure Be?
Blood pressure is increasingly looking like the new cholesterol. Like cholesterol, blood pressure tends to go up as we get older — especially if we are getting fatter at the same time. Also, like... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Dec22009
Broken Heart Syndrome
It sounds too cute to be true — or, at least, too cute to be important. "Broken heart syndrome" is the name being given to the condition of 19 patients who developed heart failure after sudden... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Dec22009
Vitamin E Supplements: Rest in Peace
Just a few years ago, many cardiologist, myself included, were encouraging you to take daily vitamin E supplements. The reasoning went like this: There are dangerous waste products called oxidants... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Dec22009
Can Exercise Be Bad For You?
You feel fine, but you feel fat. The warmer weather is coming. It’s time to start working out. After all, dieting has not really done the job of shedding pounds picked up during the holidays. So you... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Dec22009
Home Monitoring Of Blood Thinners Comes Of Age
There are a lot of annoying things about living with the need to take the anticoagulant warfarin (Coumadin). This "blood thinner" is used to prevent strokes and other complications from blood clots... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Dec22009
Fit And Fat -- Does It Matter?
It is true that exercise is beneficial even if you don't lose weight. However, being physically fit while remaining overweight leaves you with health risks that you just don't need. If you can lose... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Nov92008
What Should Your LDL Cholesterol Be?
Over the last few years, people have bragged if their LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) was less than 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). However, the publication of two major trials... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Oct122008
Taking An Individualized Approach To Your Heart Care
In this information age, it's nearly impossible to avoid health advice, especially when it comes to heart disease. Whether from books, magazines and television, or talking with friends and families,... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Oct92008
Why Angioplasty May Not Be Right For You
No doubt about it — coronary angioplasty is one of the great advances in cardiology of our times. And the new drug-coated stents are wonderful, greatly reducing the recurrence of narrowings in... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Oct72008
When Wrong Advice Is Good News
In recent years, a succession of studies and news articles have come out that have turned conventional medical wisdom on its head. As a result, people are learning that many things their doctors have... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Oct72008
Angioplasty Or Bypass Graft Surgery?
You are in the hospital after being admitted with a bad episode of chest pain. Your doctors tell you that, fortunately, you do not seem to have had any damage to your heart — but it was close. All... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug122008
How Much Exercise Is Enough?
Everyone should exercise for 20 minutes three times per week. No, make that five times per week for 30 minutes. No, make it more like an hour every day. No, scratch that — short bursts of intense... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug122008
Debunking the 50-50 Heart Disease Myth
You don't get enough good news, and, in all likelihood, you recently missed some very important reassurance that should dampen fears of heart disease for hundreds of millions of people worldwide —... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug112008
How To Stay Young -- Really!
The baby boomers are getting older, and it's not pretty. A lot of money is being spent on Botox, liposuction, plastic surgery and personal trainers. Ultimately, these efforts to continue to look good... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug72008
Are All NSAIDs Dangerous?
All of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, have been tainted by stories of potential heart problems; that is, all of them except aspirin. First, Vioxx was withdrawn from the market,... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug72008
CT Scans: The Next Wave in Heart Care
Back when medical technology was in the dark ages — and I am talking about March 12, 2002 — I wrote a column titled "Should You Get a CT Scan of Your Heart?" The conclusion at that time was "No." The... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug72008
Tests You May Not Need
One of the more painful trends in health care is that an increasing percentage of costs are being shifted to the patient. You probably are seeing this in several ways. You may have to pay a higher... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug52008
Air Pollution: How Dangerous For Your Heart?
No one has ever made the argument that air pollution is good for you, but just how harmful is the secondhand smoke, sulfur and other particles floating around in the air? And what should you do about... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
Aug12008
Living With Amiodarone
Not everyone with a serious heart rhythm problem ends up on a defibrillator — one of those devices that is the size of a hockey puck and the price of your car, which gives you a big electric jolt... read more
Category: Healthy Heart
© 2012 Aetna Inc.