Submitted by Dr T on October 29, 2010 – 3:42pm in Other Question: What does it mean when a doctor says you have a stiff heart? A stiff heart… as a surgeon I have had many a heart in my hand that feels like that. It is usually the result of scarring and a long history of high blood pressure. …
How is cardiac muscle similar to smooth muscle and skeletal muscle?
Submitted by Dr T on October 29, 2010 – 2:53pm It is and it isn’t, and here are some of the important differences: Heart muscle — also called cardiac muscle — makes up the wall of the heart. Throughout our life, it contracts some 70 times per minute pumping about 5 liters of blood each minute. Skeletal muscle, as its …
Roasted Beet Risotto with Goat Cheese Gouda and Arugula Pesto
Submitted by Dr T on October 27, 2010 – 7:37am Risotto is one of those entrees you wonder how you lived without for so long. It is not a minor meal, in that it takes both time and effort to make. Today’s recipe has it made with vegetable stock; I prefer chicken on this occasion (left over whole chicken in …
My dad has worsening Congestive Heart Failure. What should he do?
Submitted by Dr T on October 26, 2010 – 4:27pm Question: My dad is 74yo with Hx of CAD; 4x CABG (12yrs ago); Atrial Fib (taking warfarin/metoprolol); otherwise very healthy. Over the past year he has had worsening SX of CHF. He was hospitalized July 2010 for this — had 1.5 L fluid drained from his lungs and blood transfusion …
Can you help me with my high Blood Pressure?
Submitted by Dr T on October 23, 2010 – 12:32pm in Your heart rhythm Question: sir kindly suggest oral medicine that can work maximum fast for fast heart rate unbearable 130 to 156 per min with or without raise of hypertension 180/110–capotril?? 25 mg(ace inhibitor that works in 20 mint)–betablocker metpploror-25 mg( works in 30 mint) any other fast acting …
Actions, Indications and Side effects of Beta Blockers
Submitted by Dr T on October 22, 2010 – 7:31am Beta (β) blockers stop the action of epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) on so-called β-adrenergic receptors, part of the sympathetic nervous system which mediates the “fight or flight” response. If you feel this “skipped beat” every time you take your Propranolol, it is most likely an indication it has “kicked …
Statin side effects
Submitted by Dr T on October 21, 2010 – 9:47am in Other The most common side effects of statins include : headache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, rash, weakness, muscle pain. The most serious (but fortunately rare) side effects are liver failure and rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdomyolysis is a serious side effect in which there is damage to muscles. Rhabdomyolysis often begins as muscle …
Inaccurate risk calculators & the drug industry
Inaccurate risk calculators & the drug industry Submitted by Dr T on October 21, 2010 – 9:29am A recent NYTimes article describes the inaccurate use of heart risk calculators that may lead to many Americans getting unnecessary medications of statins, the drugs prescribed to lower your cholesterol. Unlike the point based calculators used in many (including some very prestigious) websites, …
Diuretic side effects and Diabetes
Submitted by Dr T on October 20, 2010 – 11:25am Question: I have been on Avalide for about a year now. I have since developed some other issues, all of which seem related to potassium deficiency. I started investigating when I began getting sore muscles and charleyhorses, in spite of stretching. I have these symptoms, most of which I always …
Chest pains after Heart surgery
Submitted by Dr T on October 20, 2010 – 10:34am in Chest Pain Question: my husband had a cabg about 9 weeks ago and has returned to work but always has an uneasiness in his chest , he travels and is a brick layer for a living and when he is on bumpy roads he as he explains almost like …