"This blog was developed to provide medical updates that are important and have my perspective as additional insight."
SCAD stands for Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection, a form of heart disease that is rare but is the cause of heart attacks in younger women, pregnant women, and women you are not a typical risk for heart disease. After Robert’s wife died from the condition, he became a supporter of research into this little known …
Read More “OUR PATIENT ROBERT ALICO PROMOTES RESEARCH ON SCAD”
NSAID medications are commonly prescribed and used as over-the-counter pain relief treatments. Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs are non-aspirin pain relievers that include over-the-counter Advil (Ibuprofen), Aleve (Naprosyn), and a host of prescriptions medications like Celebrex, Voltaren (Diclofenac), and long list of additional medications in this class. Aspirin, although technically in this grouping, is excluded, …
Robert Alico is a patient of ours who is making a difference through his commitment to fund research into an little known condition called SCAD …Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. Through his effort, Robert has been begun this much needed discussion, brought about awareness, and provided funds to promote research. Below….is his open letter to the …
No…not the Green Bay Packers that Barb and all of our Wisconsiners love so much…it’s Milton Packer, MD. Dr. Packer is a renowned researched on heart failure, a disease in which the heart cannot pump effectively to provide circulation throughout the body. He, and a team of scientists at Novartis have developed a combination medication …
I think I’m like most people….in that I have a feeling about most of the foods I eat. What I mean by that is not….oh, this is tasty….but rather that I have a feeling about whether I’m eating healthy or not. If I eat a burger….I feel like ‘that’s not good for me’, while if …
Statins (Lipitor, Crestor & others) are effective, safe, and have been shown to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Now, a new competitor is potentially coming to market, as it continues to show promise in lowering bad (LDL) cholesterol by 50-66%. This group of medications are called anti-PSCK9 agents & include Amgen’s evolocumab, alirocumab from Sanofi …
That simple admonition, best captures my sense of the ‘science’ of diet and how to eat properly for your health. There are advocates for every type of diet….low calorie, low fat, low sugar. All have their advocates and their detractors, and all have some supportive research as backing, but there will be NO definitive …
Coronary artery disease remains very common, with management during an acute episode of chest pain clearly favoring intervention with balloon treatment, stenting, or other aggressive therapies. But for patients with stable disease, there is more controversy If a person has stable coronary artery disease (no chest pain) but testing demonstrates are area of reduced blood …
This weeks Sunday New York Times had a great article titled “Why Everyone Seems to Have Cancer” and the summary is….as we live longer and reduce the greatest killer of people, HEART DISEASE, Cancer comes to dominate as the major cause of death. The statistics clearly show reductions in premature death from heart disease and …
Remember “Hans and Franz?”…from Saturday Night Live. Two muscle-heads who want to ‘PUMP YOU UP’ Well….this was just the start of the hormone craze that has had a wide-range of influences in society, from Major League Baseball scandals, to issues in the local High School locker-rooms, and with the expanding advertising during football season …
The other day my patient Mr. T, was having his physical and I asked him about his health habits. I asked about his exercise, and he explained to me that he did aerobic exercise three days a week for 30 minutes, doing treadmill and cross-training and bicycling, and he said something to me that was …
The news reported that former President George Bush had a cardiac stent placed to prevent a heart attack and to help improve his heart blood flow. Why did he have this? NYTIMES ARTICLE Well, George Bush is 67 years old, a common age for men in the US (and across the world) to develop heart …
Statin medications have had a profound effect on heart disease across the world, but there are a variety of limitations with these medications including lack of effect, side effects, and inadequate results in patients at highest risk (inability to achieve ‘goal’ levels of cholesterol.) Enter a new treatment, a medication that is a ‘biological agent’, …
Read More “NEW ‘SUPER CHOLESTEROL REDUCING’ MEDICATION IS COMING…AND IT WILL REQUIRE A SHOT”
I was shocked to hear about the unexpected death of James Gladofini, the well-know star of the SOPRANOS HBO SERIES. Although the details are not available, I already know that this will get some 50 year-old guys wondering whether they are at risk for sudden death due to coronary artery disease. It will raise awareness. …
More Olive Oil Please! A new report in the NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine), out of Spain, demonstrates great heart advantage to the Mediteranean diet. A 30% reduction in risk for heart attack was noted, for patients eating 1 liter of olive oil per week, along with additions of good oils from nuts (1 …