Author: Carolyn Thomas

Please! No more bragging about mountain climbing!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 18 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

One of the things I love most about writing this blog is hearing directly from my readers. I already knew that Heart Sisters attracts the smartest, funniest, and wisest readers ever, of course, but this comment from Charlotte in response to one of my articles really struck a chord for me. I’ve written before about this particular issue (i.e. why trotting out all those “inspiring” survivors to talk about their amazing post-recovery achievements can actually leave me feeling not so much inspired, but inadequate). Here’s how she says it so much better (Thank you, Charlotte!):        .         . Continue reading “Please! No more bragging about mountain climbing!” →

The Martha and Carolyn Show!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 20 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

screen-shot-2017-01-14-at-7-00-02-amDr. Martha Gulati is an internationally recognized expert on women’s heart disease. She’s Professor of Medicine and Chief of Cardiology at The University of Arizona in Phoenix, where she is creating a centre specifically for Women’s Cardiovascular Health. The best-selling co-author with Sherry Torkos of the book, Saving Women’s Hearts, Dr. Martha is also the Editor-in-Chief of the American College of Cardiology’s CardioSmart, a Scientific Advisory Board member of WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, and a board member of the American Society of Preventive Cardiology, the Phoenix American Heart Association and other notable organizations.

She is, in short, one of the rock stars of women’s cardiology.

Continue reading “The Martha and Carolyn Show!” →

It’s official! Housework is bad for your heart

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 14 Comments

Prepare yourself, ladies, for yet another news flash from the Department of the Bleedin’ Obvious. . .  A research team at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine tracked both male and female full-time workers, particularly the number of hours they worked outside the home, the work they did in the home, and the responsibility they felt for doing the housework.(1) They then examined the links between those factors and health issues such as elevated blood pressure. High blood pressure has long been identified as a serious risk factor in heart disease, so pay attention if you’re the person in your home who’s responsible for most of your housework. Continue reading “It’s official! Housework is bad for your heart” →

Two big factors that can impact a patient’s loss of ‘self’

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

When California sociologist Dr. Kathy Charmaz studied the subject of suffering among those living with chronic illness, she identified an element of suffering that is often overlooked by health care providers.(1)  As she explained her findings:

”    A fundamental form of that suffering is the loss of self in chronically ill persons who observe their former self-images crumbling away without the simultaneous development of equally valued new ones.

“The experiences and meanings upon which these ill persons had built former positive self-images are no longer available to them.”

Dr. Charmaz also found that this profound sense of having lost the “self” you used to be before being diagnosed is generally the result of both external and internal influences on how we view ourselves.  Continue reading “Two big factors that can impact a patient’s loss of ‘self’” →