Category Archives: Heart disease

What causes coronary heart disease or coronary atherosclerotic plaque, this thing that we track with heart scans? Well, here are a few little-publicized facts about heart disease that you are unlikely to hear from your When’s-the-next-stent? cardiologist or the What … Continue reading →

The doctor-patient relationship has gone sour. This probably comes as no surprise to most of you, particularly if you’ve been following conversations here in The Heart Scan Blog: Who is your doctor? discussing the emergence of the physician-as-hospital-employee phenomenon that … Continue reading →

Primary care physicians are the initial entry point for healthcare for the majority of Americans. Develop pneumonia; go to your family or internal medicine physician (internist) to be prescribed an antibiotic. Need your blood pressure or cholesterol checked? Develop a … Continue reading →

Like many scams, this one follows a predictable formula. It is a formula widely practiced among food manufacturers, ever since food products began to jockey for position based on nutritional composition and purported health benefits. First, identify a component of … Continue reading →

Once upon a time, the tobacco industry was guilty of conducting a widespread, systematic, highly organized campaign to deliver their product to as much of the unsuspecting public as possible. As clinical data mounted linking smoking and health problems like … Continue reading →

“When banks compete, you win.” The TV ad opens with a 60-something man sitting in his living room, talking to a three-piece suit-clad, 30-something banker. The older man is explaining to the dismayed younger man why he’s going to use … Continue reading →

In 1910, taking a person’s blood pressure was considered revolutionary, a high-tech practice that was of uncertain benefit. Dr. Harvey Cushing of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore had observed a blood pressure device while traveling in Europe, developed by Dr. … Continue reading →

Dr. Jeffrey Dach posted a great piece on his blog, Bioidentical Hormone Blog , about his perspective on the Track Your Plaque program. It’s worth reading even for those familiar with the program, just to see a slightly different perspective. … Continue reading →

A 72-year old woman came to my office after a complicated hospital stay (unrelated to heart disease). She’d undergone a CT coronary angiogram and heart scan as part of a pre-operative evaluation prior to a surgery for a non-heart related … Continue reading →