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Athletic heart Doctoring General Cardiology

Is it safe to start training?

Before beginning to read, please know that what follows is just a long-winded introduction to a post that featured me as an expert. You can can scroll down to the link if you wish. — This is that time of year. It’s a nice time. Longer days, warmer temps and big doses of hope power […]

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ICD/Pacemaker

Would you know what to do?

At its core, this blog aims to do some good. I don’t like to ask for things. It’s not why I write. Today is an exception. I’m going to ask you to learn about and maybe support an important cause. The topic is sudden cardiac death–our number-one killer. There are a lot of folks working […]

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Athletic heart General Cardiology General Medicine

New Trials and Fibrillations post is up

It’s entitled: More on ECG screening to prevent sudden death in the young: On risk, the Italian experience and notes from the real world. Here’s the lead in… Earlier this week, I wrote about one of my favorite topics in medicine: the ECG. This 12-pronged view of cardiac vectors catapulted my interest in the human […]

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Athletic heart Exercise General Medicine

The NY Times gets it wrong on ECG screening of young athletes

When a news source as powerful as The NY Times publishes an article about sudden cardiac death in young people, one expects accurate information. It’s far too important a topic to write about imprecisely. This piece, entitled Should Young Athletes Be Screened for Heart Risk, included numerous inaccuracies and failed to tell important facts about […]

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Athletic heart Cycling Wed Exercise

CW: The ECG of an athlete

It may seem a little formal to say this, but I would like to start by stating my goals for today’s post: Introduce the concept of the athletic heart; Touch upon the notion of sudden death of the athlete; Explain what an ECG really is, and how it may help diagnose heart disease; Review a […]

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Athletic heart Cycling Stuff Health Care Reform Knowledge

The feasibility of routine ECG screening of athletes?

Sudden death in a young athlete is surely a tragic event.  Sadly, many of the afflicted had an underlying undiagnosed heart anomaly that might have been detected with a screening ECG. On the surface, the idea seems so simple: just add an ECG to the routine pre-sport’s history and physical exam.  ECGs are painless, non-invasive […]