Category: Cardiology 101

posts here focus on a variety of topics all about the heart and how it works

Doctors on the take: a patient’s guide to fine print in research

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I was doing a little light reading in the Archives of Internal Medicine the other day. A study reported there looked at what researchers have dubbed the Eco-Atkins Diet, which replaces the low-carb, high-saturated fat meat protein of the old Atkins Diet with low-carb, low saturated fat vegetable-based protein – such as soybeans, legumes and nuts.(1)

The more I read, the better I liked what I was reading. The study showed that the vegetable-based protein-eating participants not only successfully lost weight on this new Eco-Atkins Diet, but they showed greater reductions in their LDL (bad) cholesterol levels than the control group.

Isn’t this fabulous news for those of us wanting to lose weight as well as improve our heart health?

Well, maybe not.   Read more

Young, pregnant – and a deadly heart condition

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 15 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

Martha is one of those young women who believes she was born to have babies.  “I’ve always been a nurturing person  – and bossy to boot!” she laughs.  “And isn’t that what mothers are made of?”  So she and hubby Joseph were thrilled when, at the age of 26, she became pregnant with their first baby. 

“In the last month of my pregnancy, I began feeling bloated, tired, had trouble breathing and also had what seemed the worst flu of my life. I told my obstetrician about my symptoms, but she said that it was ‘normal’, that I was ‘over-reacting’, and to stop worrying. When a bad cough got worse and I just couldn’t sleep, I called my doctor and she told me to take some cough syrup, and to stop worrying.” read more of Martha’s amazing story

Deep thoughts about death and heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

red poppies

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

This week, I’ve been reading Yale Medical School professor Dr. Sherwin Nuland’s amazing book How We Die – which is not nearly as grim as it sounds.  In fact, it’s an endlessly fascinating read. For heart attack survivors, the concept of death can become more interesting than we ever imagined it to be.

We live in a death-denying society. People don’t want to think about death, much less talk about it. As Dr. Nuland writes, death to most of us occurs “in sterile seclusion cloaked in euphemism and taboo”. We don’t even like using the ‘D’ word. Instead of ‘dying’, we prefer to “pass on”, or “pass away” or “go to be with Jesus”. Continue reading “Deep thoughts about death and heart disease” →

Female cardiologists chat about heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Only 7% of the world’s cardiologists are women.  Pity.  In these two videos, you’ll get an opportunity to eavesdrop on some of the best of this elite group as they discuss ‘The Heart of a Woman’.

UPDATE FROM CAROLYN: Sadly, neither of these films are still available. Instead, I invite you to watch a remarkable little film called “A Typical Heart“ (about 22 minutes in length), a documentary exploring the deadly disparity between male and female heart disease, through the lens of healthcare professionals, researchers, patients and their families. I was honoured to be one of the eight female heart patients interviewed for this film. 

♥