CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE
Published July 28, 2024 | 
WHAT IS IT?
Congestive heart failure doesn’t always mean your heart has failed, just that it can’t pump as well as it should. Doctors call it “congestive” heart failure because fluid can “congest” or collect in the tissues when the heart has trouble doing its job. This congestion most often happens in the lower legs and sometimes occurs in the lungs, making it hard to breathe. Continue reading
HEART ATTACK
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Your heart is your hardest-working muscle. Every day it beats about 100,000 times, pumping nearly 2,000 gallons of blood through 50,000 miles of blood vessels. Like any muscle, it needs plenty of oxygen. When the oxygen supply to any part of it is cut off, that part may begin to die; you feel the chest pain and other symptoms of a heart attack. Continue reading
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Your heart is your hardest-working muscle. Every day it beats about 100,000 times, pumping nearly 2,000 gallons of blood through more than 50,000 miles of blood vessels. Like any muscle, it needs plenty of oxygen. And the harder it works, the more oxygen it needs.
The heart gets oxygen from blood supplied by vessels called coronary arteries. When deposits, called plaque, narrow these blood vessels, blood and oxygen can’t get to the heart easily: Then you have coronary artery disease. When your heart needs more blood than it can get-as you walk up stairs, for instance-it may complain with a squeezing chest pain called angina pectoris. But about one person in three with clogged arteries has no warning chest pain. For them, the first sign of trouble is a heart attack. Continue reading
HIGH CHOLESTEROL
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
Cholesterol: the dreaded word. You probably hear about cholesterol all the time-how it causes heart disease and other health problems. But cholesterol doesn’t have to be bad. In fact, your body needs some in order to work well. When you have more than your body needs, though, it can build up in your blood vessels and lead to atherosclerosis-clogged and narrowed arteries. When that happens, your risk of heart attack, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and a host of other diseases goes way up. Continue reading
PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE
Published July 28, 2024 | WHAT IS IT?
You have peripheral vascular disease when arteries some distance from the center of your body-in your legs, or less often your arms or neck-become clogged with fatty deposits called plaque. This makes it hard for blood to get through to your muscles. When muscles don’t get enough oxygen from the blood, they let you know with pain, cramps, or numbness. This happens most often when you work hard-for example, your legs might ache when you climb stairs. Continue reading
Raynaud’s Syndrome
Published July 25, 2024 | Raynaud’s (rah-NOZ) phenomenon refers to a sequence of color changes in the skin, usually of the fingers and toes, that is caused by exposure to cold and improved by warming. It is a fairly common problem, especially among women. It is a so-called vasospastic disorder—a condition that results from spasm in the small arteries in the fingers and toes and even the nose. Continue reading
Heart Disease Risk Factors
Published April 24, 2024 | Risk factors are elements which have been proven to contribute independently to the development of heart problems. Only by learning about risk factors can you realistically determine your individual risk profile.
Traditionally, risk factors have been divided into two group: those which are considered changeable and those which are not. Even though you can not change your age or family’s medical history, there are many ways of minimizing your risk of heart disease by eliminating or minimizing other risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle and being overweight. You can decide which changes will bring you closer to your goal of preventing heart disease. Even though you can not change your age or family’s medical history, there are many ways of minimizing your risk of heart disease by reducing or minimizing other risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle and overweight. Continue reading
Blood pressure differences
Published April 18, 2024 | Question:
I have been monitoring my blood pressure and have noticed that the reading from my right arm is consistently much higher than from the left arm. Is this something I should be concerned with? Which is the more accurate reading? Continue reading