Twice as many women as men ages 45 to 64 have undetected or “silent” myocardial infarctions, suggesting a general diagnosis problem; however, Warwick University Medical School researchers say doctor’s gender may hinder early diagnosis of heart disease in women.
This is sort of interesting. The doctors gender affects the diagnosis of heart disease. And which sex had the “quicker hand” to diagnosing coronary disease? If you guessed the female physicians then you are correct, but only towards males. The female doctors showed a clear bias in favor of male patients when considering age as a diagnostic factor, …read more

All righty then. I found research out of UT Southwestern Medical Center that is a bit taboo. They have found a drug that can counteract the symptoms associated with a cocaine overdose. That handy little drug is most often seen in the operating room or ICU’s and is used as a anesthetic. And it’s name… dexmedetomidine.
They found that the drug was effective in reversing the actions of cocaine on heart rate, blood pressure and vascular resistance in the skin by interfering with the ability of cocaine to increase nerve activity. “Typically, patients with cocaine overdoses in …read more

I posted this as well over at Diabetes Notes, but I think it is big enough news that you will excuse the duplication.
Ok, it is official… Avandia will stay on the market.  The FDA voted an overwhelming yes to keeping the drug on the shelves.  They stated that they are recommending that there be warning labels for the elder population and high risk cardiac patients. 
And as you can guess, this is getting a bag of mixed emotions.  Will this stop the 1000’s of lawsuits that are currently existing due to Avandia’s heart implications?  I think not.  But it will give …read more

I have a sad but very true wake up call for all who think that heart disease is “just another hospital stay”. Now, I know that most of you understand the importance and seriousness of cardiac issues, but after thinking about this all day yesterday and most of last night, I feel the need to share it with you.
I had a female patients who at 51 years old has had 2 bypass’, 5 way each, surgeries, 16 stents placed, 18 catherizations in all, 5 MI’s, and an EF, ejection fraction, of 25%. So…. she might be …read more