“Heart Failure: it’s time to finally change the F-word”: my Editorial in BMJ Open Heart

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

I’m pleased to share with my Heart Sisters readers some terrific news:  the British Medical Journal (known everywhere as the BMJ) invited me early in 2023 to write an Editorial for BMJ Open Heart about an important cardiology issue that I’ve been lobbying, writing and speaking about over many years – and that Editorial has now been published.

I’m thrilled of course with this level of international interest.  (Note to my American readers: you’ll notice British spellings throughout e.g. organise, minimise, etc. Do not be alarmed. They’re not mistakes). Here’s the text content, FYI:   Continue reading ““Heart Failure: it’s time to finally change the F-word”: my Editorial in BMJ Open Heart”

Adding more years to life vs. more life to years

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

I’ve noticed that a specific conversation topic keeps popping up when my girlfriends of a certain age get together – particularly when we start comparing what we used to be able to do with what we’re able to do now.          .

Here’s just one simple example:  I used to be able to sit down on the floor and then casually stand up again without any help. Now, with a wonky left knee encased in a big skookum brace, plus two painful wrists (one sporting its own brace), I know those days are gone.  (Thank you, osteoarthritis!)  Yes, I might still be able to painfully get myself down onto the floor, but there’d better be two strong adults around to pull me back up by both arms.    .   Continue reading “Adding more years to life vs. more life to years”

What I wish I’d known before my hospital discharge

by Carolyn Thomas     @HeartSisters   

I was feeling dead chuffed (as my UK friends would say) to be published again in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) recently.(1)  As part of their What Your Patient Is Thinking series, my guest essay includes what I now wish I’d known before being sent home from the Cardiac Care Unit following my heart attack diagnosis and treatment.  

Continue reading “What I wish I’d known before my hospital discharge”

Yet another cardiac risk calculator? My response in the British Medical Journal

by Carolyn Thomas    @HeartSisters

I was contacted by the British Medical Journal recently,  asking me for a heart patient’s perspective on a new cardiovascular risk calculator.  It’s been launched by the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS), and claims that it can tell you your real heart age. Here’s what I wrote . . .   Continue reading “Yet another cardiac risk calculator? My response in the British Medical Journal”