If you have a heart-zapping defibrillator implanted in your chest, you’re not supposed to compete in sports any more intense than bowling or golf. Lots of patients ignore those guidelines, trying everything from school basketball teams and community tennis leagues to running marathons and rock climbing — although no one knows if the life-saving implants work as well under that kind of stress.
Many of these athletes will now take part in a nationwide registry to see once and for all if this is a validated risk. Do the athletes need more “shocks” to the heart than other persons that would …read more

* Chest compression alone nearly doubled the chances of a good neurological outcome in patients at greatest risk (those that stopped breathing, which accounted for 90 percent of those in the study).
* The good outcomes were most likely if the rescue attempt began within four minutes of the collapse.
* Mouth-to-mouth ventilation provided no real benefit.
* Those given compressions alone survived as often as those given traditional CPR (chest compressions plus rescue breaths).
What do you think about this?  This follows new research that shows mouth to mouth is not necessary for survival of cardiac arrest.  This was studied due to the …read more

High blood pressure among our children… Working in an urgent care facility, I see every single age group and demographic every single time I work. But I am getting very bothered by the number of children whose blood pressure is alarmingly high! I mean like 152/96 and 146/94. That is no joke high!! What will happen to these children if there are no changes made?And I know that this is not very clinical and exactly factual, but most of these kids are overweight. Before you write a comment saying that I shouldn’t make generalizations, remember that I said it was …read more

I thought I would share with you one of my most popular posts… It is always a very big topic, since so many do not discuss this with their doctors and nurses due to embarrassment.
Healthbolt has inspired me to write once again about that taboo subject of sexual relations. When I think about it, my discharge teaching with an acute MI patient is focused on nutrition, exercise and lifestyle changes, but doesn’t touch on sex. Don’t you think that should be a valid thought? “When is it safe to have sex again?”
Well, lucky for ya’all, I have done my …read more

In keeping with the Cancer theme today- great fact that will put your light out for sure!!
Here is further proof to stop smoking…Women who quit smoking significantly reduce their risk of dying from heart disease and cancers very soon after.
There was a 47% reduction in risk for coronary heart disease within the first five years of quitting and a 21%  reduction in lung cancer death within the first five years.
via IrishHealth.com 

A 92 year old Australian women is the first to undergo a ground breaking procedure. In the radical procedure, a new aortic valve is attached to a long rod and fed through a small incision in the groin up to the the heart, where it defrosts and expands. Wow!
This will take the place of open heart surgery for those that are too old and frail to undergo surgery. This will also help with cost and recovery time.

Researchers from Austria have studied studying carotid arteries with repeat US. Strange sentence but true.
The team first did ultrasound exams of the carotid arteries of 1,268 patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease because of multiple risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or known blockages in other blood vessels such as the coronary arteries. Then they concentrated on the 574 patients that showed the most plaque buildup.
What did they find?

Music man Isaac Hayes died of a stroke on Sunday in his Memphis home. The deep-voiced soul singer died after he was found unconscious at his residence. Very sad- many prayers to his family.
However, it was also reported that no autopsy had been performed. No official determination has been released by the medical examiner’s office or filed with the Memphis health department, which issues death certificates.
via Perez Hilton and AP

Persons with heart disease need to worry with controlling their overall cholesterol levels and not just “bad” cholesterol levels.  So important that this is re-examined. High cholesterol and heart disease do not mix!
Researchers found that 37 percent of Americans with diseases that affect the heart and vascular system had reached recommended levels of LDL-C (bad cholesterol), but only 17 percent were at recommended levels for all lipids – LDL-C, HDL-C (“good” cholesterol) and triglycerides. In contrast, 85 percent of those without cardiovascular diseases were at recommended LDL-C levels, while 67 percent were at recommended levels for all lipids. 
What do we …read more

There is a new tool for physicians to determine the severity and exact risk for heart failure patients. This came on the heels of the OPTIMIZE-HF study that monitored more then 48,000 heart failure patients.
Researchers and doctors feel that there is certain criteria that are very good predictors… as follows
The patient characteristics most predictive of in-hospital mortality were admission creatinine levels, systolic blood pressure and patient age. Increased risk was also associated with conditions such as liver disease, past cerebrovascular issues, vascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Diabetes, gender and coronary artery disease were not significant predictors of mortality. …read more