Categories
Social Media/Writing/Blogging Uncategorized

I am not quitting social media

I recently finished an academic review paper on the role of social media in medicine and cardiology. My co-author and friend Piotr Futyma (Rzeszów Poland) and I focused mostly on the upsides of digital media. It’s not yet published but it is accepted.  I was an early and accidental adopter of social media. I used […]

Categories
Doctoring Healthy Living Knowledge Uncategorized

Cardiology Podcast Every Friday

My editors at Medscape warned me years ago that many people, especially younger ones, read a lot less. This saddened me because I’ve spent a great deal of time learning to write. One of America’s most accomplished writers, Malcolm Gladwell, began his podcast because he worried about not reaching younger people. Each week, I spend a […]

Categories
Reflection Uncategorized

Uplifting book — The Rosie Project

Good book alert: This holiday weekend I read The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Simsion sets the story of a nutty genetics professor in Melbourne, Australia. The book is sweet, funny and uplifting. It’s a perfect escape from the mean-spiritedness of today’s news cycle. An Australian electrophysiologist who I had dinner with during the recent […]

Categories
Uncategorized

Vacation time

Hey all, I am heading out on holiday for a week. I will be without Internet or cellular service, which is something I am looking forward to. I have books to read, and I bought a notebook–the kind with paper. I thought I might try writing words with a pen and paper. I tell you […]

Categories
Athletic heart Atrial fibrillation Cycling Stuff Exercise inflammation Uncategorized

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 […]

Categories
General Medicine Health Care Healthy Living Nutrition Uncategorized

Health lessons from Reverend Al Sharpton…

However you see the Reverend Al Sharpton, one thing is certain: you see less of him now. His Twitter pic tells you he is proud of his 167-pound weight loss. Good for him, he should be. If you care about health, the disappearance of the Sharpton-of-old is worth mention. His story teaches us a lot, […]

Categories
Doctoring General Cardiology Health Care Reform Uncategorized

New post up on theHeart.org: Fee-for-service, AF treatment and the untangling of knots…

Earlier this year a famous group of researchers did a careful study on the relationship between surgical complications and hospital finances. Their findings should jolt you: The average hospital makes money when patients suffer complications from procedures. This is outrageous. It is fee-for-service at its worst. The first thought that popped into my mind after […]

Categories
Athletic heart Atrial fibrillation General Ablation General Cardiology Healthy Living inflammation Uncategorized

Heart disease 101: AF and Coronary Artery Disease — related, incidental or both?

There were many good questions raised on my last post. Thanks. One particularly relevant theme concerned the relationship of atrial fibrillation (AF) and coronary artery disease (CAD). There’s a great deal of misunderstanding out there on how these two common disease relate to each other. I thought a few paragraphs might be useful. On the […]

Categories
General Cardiology Uncategorized

Heading to the American College of Cardiology meeting

Hey all, I’ve got my Apple products packed. I am on my way to San Francisco for the 2013 ACC meeting. I’ll be going as both a cardiologist and journalist/blogger for theHeart.org. Look for a daily column over at Trials and Fibrillations on THO. I’ll also be tweeting like crazy on the ACC hashtag — […]

Categories
Cycling Stuff Cyclocross Uncategorized

In the Prime post up over at the Courier-Journal — The world championships of CX come to town

For fans of sport in America, the coming week is all about fast-twitch muscles, aggression and unapologetic showmanship. The Super Bowl has grown de facto into an American holiday. I get this. I watch football; the athleticism and intensity are compelling. But in our fair city, the next week witnesses a celebration of sport of […]

Categories
Healthy Living Uncategorized

How large a role should the ‘community’ play in health?

In Louisville, each Labor Day and Memorial Day, our government embraces health. The Mayor’s Hike, Bike and Paddle turns our Southeastern city into something, well…something that looks a little Euro. Riding with thousands of Kentuckians just days after returning from Munich Germany got me thinking about stuff. Things like walking places, riding bikes safely, public […]