Tag: health

Having a heart attack? Call 911 – and pack your Tetris game

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

I confess that there was a time when I was ever so slightly addicted to playing the computer puzzle game Tetris.  Like many parents, I discovered it through my children during their early teen years.  Back then, I was known to occasionally “borrow” their little Gameboy and then stay up until 2 a.m. playing “just one more game” while trying to beat my previous best score. But U.K. researchers tell us that time-wasters like Tetris or other so-called “distractor tasks” might very well help to minimize the psychological effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

We know that heart attack survivors have a disturbingly high incidence of undiagnosed PTSD.  Research reported in the British Journal of Health Psychology suggests, for example, that as many as 16% of cardiac survivors actually meet clinical criteria for acute PTSD, and a further 18% report moderate to severe PTSD symptoms.

So if distractor tasks such as playing an obsessively distracting computer puzzle game like Tetris can successfully help to treat PTSD in those affected by combat exposure, could playing Tetris also help heart attack survivors?   Continue reading “Having a heart attack? Call 911 – and pack your Tetris game” →

When the ‘wrong’ family member gets heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

I’ve come to learn that a common reaction to a heart attack is others’ utter shock that this could happen to “YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE!”  Women in particular report reactions like this because, generally speaking, we’re used to being the ones who take care of others, and to being the strong glue that holds our family life and relationships together.

How dare we get sick?

Dr. Wayne Sotile, in his very useful book Heart Illness and Intimacy: How Caring Relationships Aid Recovery, talks about the “family scramble” that can happen when somebody in that family is diagnosed with heart disease.  And few things can heighten the family scramble, he claims, like the “wrong” family member getting sick.  Continue reading “When the ‘wrong’ family member gets heart disease” →

14 reasons to be glad you’re a man when you’re having a heart attack

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 19 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters  ♥ Updated May 1, 2022

I just finished reading a truly weird rant on another website, written by a man decrying the “sexism” of society because all of our male doctors are now focused only on women’s heart disease – while apparently ignoring men completely.  It turns out he’s not alone in his misinformation: see also Women’s Heart Health: Why it’s NOT a Zero Sum Game.

It would surely be the fantasy dream of every female heart attack survivor if this man were actually correct about all that attention women’s heart disease is allegedly attracting.  The frightening reality instead is that since 1984, the differences between men and women’s cardiac diagnoses, treatments and outcomes has continued to grow.

In the interests of enlightening the unconscious among us about All Things Cardiac, I am happy to point out an assortment of gender differences if you find yourself having a heart attack:  Continue reading “14 reasons to be glad you’re a man when you’re having a heart attack” →

The topic that doctors don’t want to talk about with female heart patients

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

There’s a touchy topic that many doctors apparently don’t want to bring up with their heart patients  – particularly with their female patients.

A study reported in Washington, DC at the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association found that fewer than 20% of women had a talk about sex with their physicians during the first year following their heart attacks – half the rate reported by male heart attack survivors.

This is significant, because sexual activity declines in the year following a heart attack for patients who do not receive specific advice on this topic from their doctors, the study showed. And fewer than half of all patients questioned in this study reported receiving any guidance on sexual activity – with women even less likely than men to get such information. Continue reading “The topic that doctors don’t want to talk about with female heart patients” →