Question: I have been taking Zocor for 5 months. About a month ago, I started to have severe leg cramps. Could Zocor be causing this pain? My cholesterol was 240 and is now about 130. Are there any problems with stopping for awhile and starting again? What are the risks?
I had an echocardiogram that showed pulmonary hypertension. What does it mean?
Question: I just learned that an echocardiogram from 2.5 years ago indicated “mild pulmonary hypertension.” (sPAP was extimated at 38 mmHg.) The echo was done to try to diagnose sudden attacks of shortness of breath that have become less frequent since then. (No luck with a diagnosis, by the way.) My brand new pulmonologist wants to do another echo and …
I had an echocardiogram that showed pulmonary hypertension. What does it mean?
Question: I just learned that an echocardiogram from 2.5 years ago indicated “mild pulmonary hypertension.” (sPAP was extimated at 38 mmHg.) The echo was done to try to diagnose sudden attacks of shortness of breath that have become less frequent since then. (No luck with a diagnosis, by the way.) My brand new pulmonologist wants to do another echo and …
What is Twisted Coronary Artery Syndrome?
I am afraid there is no such thing. There may be tortuous coronary arteries, and there is an Acute Coronary Artery Syndrome.
What does right atrial hypertrophy mean? What treatments are available?
Right atrial hypertrophy or enlargement is a result an increased amount of blood in the Right Atrium. This can be due to obstruction downstream, backwards flow across a leaking (“tricuspid”) valve, a defect in the wall between the Left and Right Atrium (an “Atrial-Septal Defect”), or a conduction abnormality to name a few possibilities. It can be diagnosed by EKG, …
I woke up with severe sudden chestpain, but they couldn’t find anything
Question Info: Age- 18, Female, Had ASD repair when I was 8 years old, normal BP and HR, Good health no other medical conditions. The other night I was woke up out of my sleep with severe chest pains, they pain seemed deep and was worse while I was lying, bending forward, or breathing deeply. I have had a history …
Chicken au Champagne
Chicken au Champagne Unlike Mireille, I am not enough of a Champagne aficionado to splurge on Veuve Clicquot for food, and never drink Vermouth or Pernod. The first change therefore is to use a cheaper Champagne instead of the exalted version the CEO of that company uses. There is no question however, that even though the wine cooks off while roasting …
I cannot breathe at night
Q: I am a 36 y.o. male and I have not been able to sleep at night due to lack of breath when I lay down and I feel like I’m drowning or can only get rapid breaths. This has only happened occasionally over the past couple of years. I have also noticed a slight swelling of my feet when …
Review of the MASS II study
MASS II is yet another study that shows the benefits of CABG compared to the limits of PCI as a viable long term strategy in stable patients with Coronary Artery Disease. This evidence adds to the ever growing body of literature promulgating the same in other risk groups (SYNTAX, SYNTAX-3 Analysis, BARI-2D, OAT trial, PCI vs. CABG – A Current …
My Mother-in-law has HOCM, Diastolic heart failure. What should she do?
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Question: My mother-in-law is 64 years old . She has HOCM for the last 3 years with mild to moderate MR and mild LV diastolic dysfunction. She has recently become symptomatic. When she was in the US 3 months back she was admitted in the emergency when she had severe gas, burps, profuse sweating, breathlessness and black-outs. At …