Is cold-water swimming safe for my heart?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Consider this timely question, answered last month in Harvard Medical School’s publication Healthbeat by Dr. Massimo Ferrigno. His response may be useful for those of you who don’t mind putting your face in the water (I’m not one of them, alas, due to some traumatic childhood memories of the diving board at Mrs. Frydendahl’s backyard pool).

Q:  “I spend part of every year on the coast of Maine. One of the things I love to do there is swim in the ocean for 20 or 30 minutes. The water is cold (55° F) but I don’t mind. I’m almost 80. I had my mitral valve repaired five years ago, and my heart rate is sometimes irregular. Are my cold-water swims okay for my heart?”  Continue reading “Is cold-water swimming safe for my heart?” →

How humour can help – or hurt – your heart disease recovery

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

“My hubby is stuck with me for another 15 years as long as I keep following doctor’s orders.”

“I told my family that I now had a pig valve in my heart – but I was disappointed when the doctor told me I couldn’t keep the bacon.”

“I am determined to outlive my husband – because I want to clean out his garage!”

Heart patients often use humour like this to distract themselves from the high levels of stress and fear often associated with a life-altering diagnosis like heart disease – such as upcoming surgery, diagnostic tests, or even the ongoing awareness of significantly increased risk of future cardiac events. So reports Nicholas Lockwood, whose research focused on how heart patients use humour to help them cope with such a frightening condition – but ended up showing some surprising results.  Continue reading “How humour can help – or hurt – your heart disease recovery” →

Heart-healthy homemade ice cream – with just one ingredient!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

My new favourite food – and it’s not only easy, it’s also heart-healthy.  You can whip this up with just one ingredient that you probably have in your kitchen right now. That mystery ingredient, of course, is banana! Frozen bananas turn creamy instead of crumbly in the blender, with a smooth and delectable texture.

Here’s a step-by-step recipe:  Continue reading “Heart-healthy homemade ice cream – with just one ingredient!” →

“All the SCAD ladies, put your hands up!”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 23 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Heart attack survivor Laura Haywood-Cory, one of my heart sisters and a fellow “graduate” of the WomenHeart Science & Leadership Symposium at Mayo Clinic, emailed me with great excitement last week:

“The Wall Street Journal interview with Katherine, me and Dr. Hayes is now live!!”

This WSJ piece tells the inspiring story of how heart attack survivor  Katherine Leon, with Laura’s help, convinced a world-famous hospital to launch research on the rare and deadly heart condition they had each survived: spontaneous coronary artery dissection, or SCAD.

(See also: How I Used to Describe SCAD. And what I’ve Learned Since (2021)

Continue reading ““All the SCAD ladies, put your hands up!”” →