Month: November 2009

Do women need to worry about cholesterol?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

cholesterolby Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Physician  does a creative job of clearing up some confusing questions about cholesterol in his always enlightening “Musings of a Distractible Mind“.

He starts off by reminding us that the current protocols for treating high cholesterol date back to before he was practicing medicine.

“Some smart scientists had noticed that people with high cholesterol had a higher risk of heart attack. More scientists got together and decided that, based on the evidence, keeping a low cholesterol number was a good idea. To celebrate their decision, they went out to a dinner of bacon cheeseburgers and donuts.”     Continue reading “Do women need to worry about cholesterol?” →

Why a good breakfast is good for your brain – and your heart

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

breakfast bowl

“Breakfast is your brain meal!” claims Vancouver educator Terry Small, aka the Brain Guy. He once did a small and very unscientific two-week experiment on himself, just to test his theory that – as your mother always told you – breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you still need convincing, you might want to try this experiment, too.

smart choices compared to whatFor Week #1, eat your normal low-fibre, low-protein, highly-processed breakfast every morning – like a gooey Maple Dip from Tim Hortons, for example. Or how about a nice big bowl of Froot Loops (the ones with that now-moribund Smart Choices healthy food symbol on the box)? The symbol apparently recommended this junk cereal to health-conscious American consumers until the entire program was yanked last month.

Dr. Eileen Kennedy, the Dean of Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, in a stupefyingly bizarre statement to the New York Times, defended the Smart Choices logo on Froot Loops because it was “based on government dietary guidelines and widely accepted nutritional standards”.  (Widely accepted on what planet, Dr. Kennedy?)  Continue reading “Why a good breakfast is good for your brain – and your heart” →

Cardiologist sues his hospital in whistleblower case

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ Leave a comment

medtronic surgThe Massachusetts Healthcare Whistleblower Act is a state law designed to protect health care providers from retaliation when they report problems in their medical facilities – retaliation like getting fired.  Under the act’s protection, a Boston cardiologist last week filed a lawsuit against his former employer, Lahey Clinic Medical Center, claiming that he was fired for questioning ties between his hospital and the medical device company, Medtronic.

Dr. David Gossman, until September 9th of this year, was assistant director of the cardiac catheterization lab at Lahey, a non-profit teaching hospital affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine.

His lawsuit claims that two senior cardiologists at the clinic pressured other doctors at the hospital to increase use of products manufactured by Medtronic, which makes the industry’s broadest line of heart valves, stents and angioplasty products, implantable cardiac defibrillators, pain pumps, and many other medical devices. It alleges that one of the cardiologists earns “substantial yearly income” serving on the Medtronic speakers’ bureau and that his wife has had a “lengthy employment” with Medtronic and holds stock in the company.

For more about this case, read: “I Was Fired For Fighting Hospital’s Ties With Medtronic” at my sister site, The Ethical Nag.

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Germ warfare for heart patients during flu season

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

hands soap-waterby Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

Did you know that eating refined sweets puts your body into an acidic state, just the way all those nasty pathogens and flu bugs like it?  Sugar can apparently weaken your immunity by suppressing the immune system’s macrophage cells, which act as an important defense shield by helping to remove unwanted substances from your blood  – like harmful bacteria and viruses.

handshaking buttonAnd speaking of harmful bacteria and viruses, shaking hands is a good way to spread those bugs from person to person. Although it’s a cultural no-no to refuse to shake hands, you can’t tell if those you’re shaking hands with have washed their hands properly after sneezing or coughing into them – or at all. Try a big smile instead.

With seasonal flu season in full swing, I was glad to find more healthy tips for fighting off viral attacks and surviving flu season from Janelle Sorenson, a senior writer at Healthy Child, Healthy World.  Her advice is not only good for children, but also for those – like heart patients – at high risk for serious health complications as a result of influenza.  A sampling here of just one of her 10 tips, Declare Germ Warfare:    Continue reading “Germ warfare for heart patients during flu season” →