Health News

Features

Heart disease warnings for women

| Don’t believe you’re not at risk; do believe you can improve your odds | WOMEN HAVE A MEASURE of built-in protection against heart disease — as long as their ovaries are producing estrogen. Although estrogen may delay the onset of heart disease until the sixties or seventies, women’s risk eventually is the same as…
Pop Quiz: Are you feeding your feelings?

| Stop the snacking and learn to recognize when it’s emotional or physical hunger | EMOTIONAL HUNGER is an issue that many of us deal with, much to the chagrin of our waistlines! It’s especially prevalent during the holidays, as both stress and food are available in large helpings. However, we all have to eat,…
Chat and Chew: The end of dieting and the beginning of a healthier year

“I GIVE UP ON DIETS — they don’t work …” It’s a familiar refrain in America. Dr. Joel Fuhrman in his new book, The End of Dieting, explains, “If you eat American food, you will inevitably develop the diseases common in America, will become overweight, and you will eventually develop high blood pressure and high…

Virtual Care for Cardiac Patients

The new coronavirus sweeping the world has changed life as we know it. While there is a lot that we don’t know about the virus, we do know that people with heart and other conditions are more likely to get seriously ill from it. At the same time, all of us are concerned about patients getting…
Health Impacts of Opioid Addiction on Patients

As a spine surgeon, I routinely see various life-threatening consequences of opioid addiction. These could include severe spinal instability and paralysis that develops from infection, that occurs due to intravenous injections of opioids — by patients who are addicted to opioids. These patients typically started by taking that single initial opioid tablet, and quickly developed…
COVID-19 and the Heart

COVID-19 (coronavirus SARS 2) is obviously an infection that primarily affects the lungs. As we know, this is a pandemic that has affected all our lives. Does it have any cardiac issues directly or indirectly? Direct Problems COVID-19 has been known to cause weakening of the heart in some cases. Thankfully this is rare, but…