“I felt amazing…It was one of those days on a bike you dream of.†There’s one thing about cyclists; we like to recall memorable performances. It’s as if retelling—and I say re-telling because any good performance has no doubt been told at least once—jolts our feel-good centers. I bet it’s the same chemicals that get […]
Year: 2012
To those who submitted posts, I say thanks. I appreciate that you did. Medical Grand Rounds keeps going because of you, the medical blogger. Your voice, your impressions, your passions and your human stories make our field such a great canvas. Let’s get it started: A Hand of Hearts: I was delighted that one of […]
As if on cue, after my meandering about inflammation on Cycling Wed, the famous British journal, Lancet, publishes a possible landmark study on how certain groups of genes found on the Y-chromosome may increase the risk of heart disease in men. (Think back to biology. The Y- chromosome imparts maleness and is passed from father […]
Tonight, I’d like to try to clear something up. I write a lot about inflammation. I use the term loosely and by so doing, I risk being imprecise. Sorry about that. (I’m far more precise with an ablation catheter than words on a blog.) My reason to focus on inflammation stems from my belief that […]
Hey All, Next Tuesday, February 14th, I will be hosting a Valentine’s Day version of Medical Grand Rounds. @GrandRounds is a weekly roundup of submitted posts from medical bloggers, the world over. Each week a host agrees to organize and link the many submissions. This week’s GR was hosted by the one and only EndoGoddess. […]
From one of my favorite journals, Applied Physics Letters. (Just kidding.) Could the vibration of the heart be harnessed into energy to drive a pacemaker generator? Nifty stuff here. They just need to overcome that thorny issue of bio-compatibility. JMM From Medical News Today.
I know the title sounds crazy, but this isn’t just a headline grabber. It is real. Here’s the story: Tambocor is the brand name version of the helpful AF drug, flecainide. “Flec,†as we call it, helps control AF episodes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) AND a structurally normal heart. Its patent long expired; […]
I always think it a bad idea. It should not be the reason. I exercise so I can eat—a lot. Ouch. As a cyclist, doctor and worshiper of common sense, this idea pains me. Notwithstanding the beauty of cycling and running well, such a plan has to be unhealthy. Though I admit to not having […]
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Why we love cycling?
Okay. It’s raining, dark, cold and early on a Saturday winter morning. Don’t ask me how, but I happened on to this video. Last Saturday, it was downhill; this one celebrates something closer to my heart..uphill. Enjoy…Turn up the volume. (From the “Theoretical Chemistry Cycling Association.) Did you all know there was such a thing […]
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GoRed Friday!!!
What should a heart doctor talk about on the this wear-red-for-women’s-heart-disease day? (It’s sunny out this Friday afternoon, so I am keeping it brief.) Promoting women’s heart health is important. Even though pink made the bigger news this week, heart disease kills far more women than breast cancer. Wait, that’s a terrible line of reasoning; […]
Let’s get off cell biology and back to something I really know. Atrial fibrillation, AF ablation and blood thinners. There was an important study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology concerning the use of the new blood thinner, dabigatran (Pradaxa), around the time of AF ablation. A very concise overview, […]