We have to talk about drugs. No, not illicit drugs, but medications used by doctors and patients. Plaintiff attorneys run ads on TV that fool people into thinking certain meds are bad. The current one I deal with is the clot-blocking drug rivaroxaban (Xarelto.) Before that, it was dabigatran (Pradaxa). If, or when, the makers […]
Graduation Day… From Blogger to Author
Hi all, I have graduated from blogger to author. My first book is now available. It’s called the Haywire Heart. I co-wrote it with Chris Case and Lennard Zinn. VeloPress is the publisher. The book deals with one of my favorite themes: heart conditions in endurance athletes. Although exercise is a key component of health, […]
AF ablation still has a role
I have been seeing a new trend in the AF clinic. I never thought this would happen, but I’d estimate that at least once daily, often multiple times daily, a patient says they have read this blog before the visit. That is nice. Many of these patients, some who have traveled across the country, or […]
The cardiac dangers of excess exercise
Regular exercise is essential for health. I’ve taken to prescribing daily exercise as a drug. I’ve even written it on a prescription pad for effect. I see exercise as medicine, a safe medicine, an effective medicine. That means, like all drugs, exercise can be overdosed. The challenge is knowing the upper limit. How much is […]
Update: Social justice of AF care, NOAC monitoring, population health and two new podcasts
Hi All, Here is a short update of the past week. The first thing to say is the Atrial Fibrillation Care: Put the Catheter (and Rx Pad) Down post has gotten a lot of attention. It stayed on the most popular list all week. It has over a 130 comments, and I have received many […]
Athletes, AF, Anticoagulants, Statins, Peanuts, and Dishwashers
Here is an update on my recent writing. Athletes and AF: I was honored to be invited back to the Western AF symposium in Park City, Utah. Last year, I presented on social media. This year, Dr. Nassir Marrouche (University of Utah) asked me to tackle the topic of atrial fibrillation in athletes. This is […]
A new way to think about curing atrial fibrillation
The problem with AF treatment is that we do not (really) understand the underlying causes of the disease. Why does the heart fibrillate? What gets those pesky premature beats started? Why do intermittent episodes persist? Why does AF come back after shocks or ablation? AF has been thought of as its own disease. You have […]
Endurance exercise and the heart — a mention in the New Yorker
Do you exercise a lot? Have you been at it for years? Are you the type that rides around the neighborhood to make a 98-mile ride into a century? Do you get squeamish if you can’t exercise for 24 hours? Are you curious about that beautiful machine in your chest? You know, the rhythmic coordinated […]
CardioStim 2014 Recap
CardioStim is the name given to the biennial gathering of the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) in the Mediterranean resort city of Nice, France. This was my first (ever) trip to France. As most of you know, I write an electrophysiology column (blog) called Trials and Fibrillations over at theHeart.org, which is now called Medscape […]
Exercise, over-indulgence and atrial fibrillation — seeing the obvious
If you like thinking and writing, few topics are better than the excess exercise and heart disease story. Indeed it is a matter for the curious. Two studies published last week in the British journal Heart addressed the relationship of exercise and heart disease. (See references below.) Although these studies garnered mainstream media attention they […]
New post on Medscape/Cardiology: My take of the 2014 Atrial Fibrillation treatment guidelines
Atrial fibrillation affects millions of patients, and its incidence and prevalence are on the rise. It’s a peculiar disease in that it affects people so differently. When populations are studied, AF associates with higher rates of stroke, heart failure and death. But patients aren’t populations. In recent years, the treatment options for this pesky disease […]
Recent Comments