by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
It may come as a surprise, but chest pain doesn’t always mean HEART ATTACK. A researcher in Atlanta has a reminder for us of a common symptom that can be mistaken for heart-related pain. It’s called mastalgia. . Continue reading “Chest pain and your periods”
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
Internal Medicine specialist Dr. Ann Hester’s new book is called Patient Empowerment 101 – but its subtitle is “More than a Book – It’s an Adventure!” The adventure of Chapter 1 includes this:
“While physicians and medical professionals devote many years to studying medicine, patients simply don’t have a comparable Patient School to learn how to effectively navigate the healthcare system.” .
Continue reading “Med School is for doctors, but there is no ‘Patient School’ for us”
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
I’ve often wondered – long before my own cardiac misdiagnosis – how our physicians can possibly correctly diagnose the countless medical mysteries presented to them day after day. The reality, of course, is that no doctor – even the most experienced and skilled – can be 100 per cent certain of the precise cause of every medical problem out there. And if the cause can’t be identified, the mystery won’t likely be appropriately solved.
But when doctors don’t know, how do they communicate that uncertainty to their patients? . Continue reading “When doctors won’t say “I don’t know””
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
When you need medical help, how does your family doctor decide which diagnostic tests to order for you, and which treatments to recommend based on those test results? Physicians are trained to rely on a type of professional playbook called clinical guidelines to help them make those decisions. But as Dr. Michael Vallis, a professor of family medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, described the problem family docs face with clinical guidelines:
“There’s just no way they can follow every single guideline. One of the biggest impediments to physicians following new guideline recommendations is that they’re overwhelmed.” .
Continue reading “Why heart patients generally don’t say: “Doc, tell me what to do and I’ll do it!””
by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
A small Australian study published this month explores two elements that seem pretty darned important to patients and their families following a diagnosis of chronic heart failure (CHF) – yet may often appear to be minimized or even dismissed by healthcare professionals. In this study, participants were asked to report their lived experience through two key themes: 1. Heartache and 2. Living with Failure. .
Continue reading “Chronic heart failure: the true heartache of living with “FAILURE””
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