Lupus Awareness
October is lupus awareness month. It’s a disease that affects predominantly women, and many aren’t aware of it even when they do have it.
Lupus affects perhaps 1.5 million Americans, it hits women compared to men in a 9 to 1 ratio, and it affects the African American population in particular.
The problem: many women—especially those 18 to 24, those most likely to get it-- don’t know anything about this disease, its signs or symptoms.
Read more about Lupus Awareness
Lupus Awareness video
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HEART CAT SCANS
STATIN STUDY
HEART CALCIUM SCORE
HEALTH WRAP TEENS AND SMOKING
According to new research, there is a suggestion that school-based programs are not very effective in the long term in preventing kids from taking up smoking.
And the net upshot, it may take more than anti-smoking lessons in the classroom to keep school-age children and teens from lighting up.
A recent review of studies looked at information-giving education programs, where students learned about smoking and its risks.
Read more about HEALTH WRAP TEENS AND SMOKING
HEALTH WRAP TEENS AND SMOKING video
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NICOTINE PATCH STUDY
HEART CAT SCANS
Smoking Study
Heart Failure Device
“Back in 94 I was laying down Christmas Eve and my heart started racing and when I got here my heart rate was 250 beats.” Ronald McClarin has a dangerous heart rhythm--which is why doctors put into him an ICD--an implantable cardioverter. It keeps his heart beating regularly…and shocks it when the rhythm has gone arhy.
But pacemakers and ICDs do fail from time to time.
There are more and more pacemakers and so called ICD’s—implantable cardioverter-defibillators used each year.
Still there is not a lot known about their reliability and how often they malfunction--something that could cause a very serious problem.
Read more about Heart Failure Device
Heart Failure Device video
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HEART CAT SCANS
HEART JACKET
LAUGHTER AND HEART HEALTH
Angina Treatment in Women
Ask anyone on the street and they will tell you.. There ARE many, many differences between the sexes.
“I think women are smarter.”...
“Men are stubborn.”...
“Women can have babies, men can’t.”...
“Women are quite unpredictable, aren’t they?”
Yes women are not the same as men, even in how they experience heart disease. But the incorrect perception that women aren’t nearly as susceptible to coronary disease as men is killing them, literally.
Dr. Nieca Goldberg is a specialist in women’s heart health. She says, “Last year a sure among physician was done that showed only one in five recognized heart disease as a leading health care issue in women. If women have symptoms of shortness of breath or unexplained fatigue or the pressure isn’t in the center of the chest but lower down, those need to be considered as significant heart symptoms and women need to be referred for appropriate testing.”
Read more about Angina Treatment in Women
Angina Treatment in Women video
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HEART CAT SCANS
BYPASS VS. STENT STUDY
REPLICATING HEART STEM CELLS
Aspirin Primary Prevention Study
So does an aspirin a day really keep the doctor away?
There’s a new study that questions the long term benefits of aspirin in people who are using it to prevent a first time heart attack or stroke.
It might be surprising to some, but for those with no history of cardiovascular disease, the benefits of aspirin is practically hearsay, especially when it comes to women.
A new study reviewed previously done studies combined which looked at the benefits of aspirin in the so-called primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes…preventing the first ones from occurring.
Read more about Aspirin Primary Prevention Study
Aspirin Primary Prevention Study video
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HEART PUMP
AHA—MINORITY DISPARITIES IN CARDIAC CARE
REPLICATING HEART STEM CELLS
Tough Women Study
It’s an often talked about aspect of the battle of the sexes: which gender can handle pain better?
A new study shows women--at one time considered the weaker sex--are actually stronger.
But that may not be such a good thing, especially given the fact that still don’t understand that heart disease is the number one killer of woman over the age of sixty-five, and they ignore the warning signs of heart problems.
Read more about Tough Women Study
Tough Women Study video
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REPLICATING HEART STEM CELLS
HEART JACKET
HEART CAT SCANS
CALLING 911 AND HEART ATTACKS
Being a grandparent is one of life’s great gifts. As a grandmother of 5 grandchildren, 52 year old Nancy Ruggles is intimately familiar with the joy. But, for Nancy, the day she had her heart attack, she feared she’d never see her grandchildren again. “I felt like my heart was coming out of my chest. I’m just lying on the bathroom floor going, I’m weak, I think I’m just dying.”
Nancy’s daughter immediately called 911. EMT, Robert Deschense, was the first responder on the scene. “I observed that Nancy was red in the face and she appeared to not have been breathing really well and I knew at that point that time was of the essence, it could be a possible heart attack. I went to my medical bag and administered her a St. Joseph’s regimen aspirin,” explains Deschense
Read more about CALLING 911 AND HEART ATTACKS
CALLING 911 AND HEART ATTACKS video
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LAUGHTER AND HEART HEALTH
HEART CAT SCANS
HEART FAILURE DRUG
Stent Danger
There’s new evidence the latest generation of coronary stents--those that are coated with drugs--may in fact be associated with an increased risk of blood clots in the heart arteries they’re designed to keep open.
Coronary stents have been an incredible advance in cardiology. The latest type, those that are coated with drugs, help keep the arteries clear by preventing scar tissue from developing.
But now comes new worries over a delayed side effect: a blockage of these stents by clot formation. It has doctors wondering how to best address the problem.
Read more about Stent Danger
Stent Danger video
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HEART CAT SCANS
Artherolsclerosis
Artificial Blood
HEART ATTACK DISPARITIES
The issue of how women and minorities on the whole receive lower standards of healthcare has been much discussed.
One of the important areas where disparities have been seen is medical treatment for heart attacks in women and minorities.
Have we made any strides to improve treatment for heart attacks in women and minorities?
There have been so many studies now, especially some landmark ones in the late 80s and 90s to show that there are differences in the treatment of heart attacks in women and blacks. It has been found repeatedly that blacks get worse care than whites, and women get worse care than men.
Read more about HEART ATTACK DISPARITIES
HEART ATTACK DISPARITIES video
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HEART PUMP
AHA—MINORITY DISPARITIES IN CARDIAC CARE
REPLICATING HEART STEM CELLS
HEART FAILURE DRUG
James Appello is 64 and says his heart failure had all but taken away his life. “Before I had the treatment I couldn’t walk across the room without gasping heavily for breathe and holding on to an item of furniture to support myself.”
Read more about HEART FAILURE DRUG
HEART FAILURE DRUG video
Related Links:
LAUGHTER AND HEART HEALTH
HEART CAT SCANS
Heart Failure Device
