Tag: acute coronary syndrome

How many heart patients get to the hospital by ambulance?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ❤️   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

In 2010, Australia’s National Heart Foundation launched what they called a “hard-hitting” Heart Attack Warning Signs awareness campaign. Physicians and cardiac researchers were concerned that too many Australians did not know the common warning signs of a heart attack. They hoped that such an awareness campaign would encourage high-risk patients to quickly call an ambulance if they were having cardiac symptoms. Their Warning Signs campaign explained why this is so critically important: 
Continue reading “How many heart patients get to the hospital by ambulance?” →

New chest pain guideline: “atypical” is OUT!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 19 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

At last! This long-awaited first-ever Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain for physicians and their patients has done a deep dive to help improve accuracy in evaluating and diagnosing cardiac symptoms(1)  – a huge and overwhelming effort.  I’m hopeful that updated guidelines might represent a turning point for all women presenting with those symptoms – and for the physicians who diagnose them.  Here’s my take on the impressive new Chest Pain Guideline  – along with a few concerns:      .       .  Continue reading “New chest pain guideline: “atypical” is OUT!” →

Post-heart attack: why we feel worse before we feel better

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

“Discharge from the hospital is a highly difficult time for both patients and families, who are often under-supported. Our study found that the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in heart attack patients increased sharply after hospital discharge – and they can stay elevated for months.” 

The study that Dr. Doreen Rabi described to me may help to answer the question that so many of my Heart Sisters readers have been asking for years: Why do I feel worse after my heart attack before I start to feel better?   .     .    .     Continue reading “Post-heart attack: why we feel worse before we feel better” →

85% of hospital admissions for chest pain are NOT heart attack

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 31 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

“I was asleep and my symptoms woke me up. I had several simultaneous symptoms, but the first one seemed to be central chest pain. It wasn’t sharp or crushing or burning, more like a dull pressure. The pain radiated down my left arm and up into my neck and jaw. I had cold sweats, and I felt nauseated.”

Laura Haywood-Cory, age 41, heart attack, six stents

Researchers tell us that most of us already know that chest pain like Laura’s could be a symptom of what doctors call Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI – or heart attack) or Acute Coronary Syndrome (any condition brought on by sudden reduced blood flow to the heart muscle).  So it may not surprise you to learn that chest pain is the main reason that over 6 million people rush to the Emergency Departments of North American hospitals each year. These visits also represent a whopping 25% of all hospital admissions – yet 85% of these admissions do NOT turn out to be heart-related at all.  Continue reading “85% of hospital admissions for chest pain are NOT heart attack” →