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In this episode, we sit down with Jonathan Fisher, a cardiologist, mindfulness teacher, and expert in holistic heart health. Drawing from his personal journey through anxiety and burnout, Jonathan shares insights from his …
Hypertension, known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a global epidemic. It impacts a staggering 1.28 billion people, more than a third of the adult population, and is the leading cause of death globally.
The most frightening part?
More than 75 percent of people with HBP don’t have it under control – current treatments, like lifestyle changes and medications, aren’t working for many patients. Millions of Americans, including many of …
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes!
We dive into the intriguing world of endurance exercise and cardiovascular health with our guest, John C. Hagan III, an ophthalmologist and veteran endurance athlete. John shares his personal journey with long-distance running …
Interior hospital: (Patient screaming and crying out as they are wheeled in through the ambulance bay and brought into a room …)
Doctor: What brings you in today?
Patient: You gotta help me, Doc … My chest hurts. I think I’m having a heart attack!
Doctor: OK, sir. We’re going to do a series of tests, including an EKG and chest X-ray, and give you aspirin.
Patient: Whatever you’ve got to do, I don’t …
Mississippi holds a troubling distinction when it comes to heart health: Over a third of all deaths in the state are attributed to cardiovascular disease (CVD), making it the leading cause of death. The state also grapples with one of the highest adult obesity rates in the United States, with nearly 40 percent of adults considered to be obese. The alarming statistics highlight the urgent …
In 2013, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) created a “risk calculator” to estimate the 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and guide patient-centered medical therapy for prevention strategies, like starting statins. However, concerns arose that the pooled cohort equations (PCEs) overestimate risk and do not reflect the current diverse U.S. population, particularly underrepresenting Asian and Hispanic adults.
In 2023, AHA’s Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Scientific Advisory …
When it comes to exercise, it is possible to get too much of a good thing. Regular participation in appropriate mild to moderate exercise is one of the most important habits for optimal health. The kind of detrimental excess endurance exercise I’m going to implicate includes marathon distance running, 100-mile bike rides, Iron Man/Half Iron Man triathlons, and other flat-out, pedal-to-the-metal exertions for more than an hour. Regrettably, I confess: …
An excerpt from Just One Heart: A Cardiologist’s Guide to Healing, Health, and Happiness.
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”
— Helen Keller
In my journey of the heart, two atlases, seemingly worlds apart, converged to illuminate the interconnected dimensions of the heart. They helped me …
The news is rife with articles about younger people getting cancer, heart attacks, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and arthritis. We used to think of these as diseases of aging, but now we are finding high blood pressure and atherosclerosis in people as young as 20. The guidelines for colon cancer screening have been lowered to age 45 for people at normal risk. Experts can’t explain why this is happening. …
There’s an old Dutch Proverb that goes: “We grow too soon old and too late smart.”
I’m not so sure about the “too late” part. In the almost five years since I walked off the mound for the last time, i.e., I retired from practicing medicine, I’ve learned a lot and maybe even gotten a tad smarter (about some things). I can change my refrigerator water filters with my eyes closed, …
Physicians dedicate their lives to healing others, often at the expense of their own well-being. This intense focus on professional success can, over time, become a kind of addiction. As physicians progress through different stages of their careers, it becomes crucial to adapt and redefine their professional identity beyond the confines of clinical practice.
The evolving roles of physicians
The concept of a physician’s role is dynamic and ever-evolving. Early career stages …
The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke is increased in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These are also known as IMID: immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Rheumatic IMIDs, including rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, are associated with multiple cardiovascular issues with an enhanced cardiovascular risk, including premature coronary artery disease. Lupus can also increase coronary artery disease because of the elevated chronic …
There’s a condition that is crippling Black and brown communities at a disproportionate rate and causing 400 amputations each day in the U.S. That may sound scary, but the most frightening part? A new consumer survey found that 70 percent of Americans have never heard of the most common vascular disease, peripheral artery disease (PAD) – PAD kills more people than three of the top cancers (breast cancer, …
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a paper titled “Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events,” which detected the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in carotid artery plaque, with a higher risk of a composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from any cause at 34 months follow-up than those in whom MNPs were not detected. Although this study did not establish a causal effect, …
Next time you hear “cuffing season,” think of blood pressure cuffs. As winter has properly set in with shorter, darker, colder days, you might see the impact on blood pressure control rates.
A new study examined the health records of more than 68,000 adults being treated for hypertension and found that on a population level, BP control rates decreased by up to 5 percent during the winter months …
How do you change the paradigm in a rigid system? When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in 2020, my team and I didn’t have a choice. We had built our hospital’s in-person cardiac rehabilitation program from the ground up, but this was a moment of reckoning. Our program would need to incorporate virtual care.
Completing cardiac rehabilitation can increase a patient’s life expectancy by up to five years, Read more…
A while ago, I wrote about my experience during an attack of atrial fibrillation (afib), lamenting the fact that my management never included a proper physical exam. Nevertheless, chemical cardioversion was successful, and my hospital stay was brief.
The episode was precipitated by a small pulmonary embolus acquired during sinus surgery the day before. I had experienced an episode of afib some 15 years previously and had remained free, I think …
The recent coverage of ECMO by the Wall Street Journal has shone a spotlight on a therapy that, despite its decades-long existence, remains relatively obscure and underutilized. While the article thoughtfully delved into the ethical considerations surrounding the extended use of this life-saving therapy, it’s important to recognize that many hospitals have yet to offer ECMO as an available treatment option. The priority focus should be on expanding access to …
A woman who asked us to call her Strawberry taught me cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the first time, more than thirty years ago. I was getting my Girl Scout badge in babysitting, and it was a requirement. The class involved an overview of the “ABC’s” and half-hearted compressions on our friends. We did a craft afterward.
A few years later, I took my second CPR class in my high school natatorium. …
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