admin | February 28, 2009

 

The External Counter Pulsation

(ECP) Unit at The Wellington is

now open and treating patients

suffering from all grades of Angina.

The head of the Unit, Dr Peder

Bagger, said the new unit had

shown some remarkable results.

“Some patients have been able to stop

medication altogether and some lowered

their dosage,” said Dr Bagger. “Overall, the

improvement in the patient’s quality of life

has been excellent with greater tolerance of

exercise and in some cases patients have

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admin | February 28, 2009

A new way of relieving pain of angina- pulse waves are delivered through thigh and leg cuffs trigger the growth of new blood vessels. People who have angina, experience episodes of chest pain on exertion or during stress because the blood supply to their heart cannot cope with the oxygen demand being made on it. They can be treated by angioplasty, to open up a blocked artery to the heart, or bypass surgery to short-circuit a vessel blockage.//

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admin | February 28, 2009

MY BROKEN HEART IS REALLY PAINFUL Q: I’ve suffered from angina for eight years and it has become so severe I find it difficult to manage to walk further than 50 metres. I often experience tight pains in my chest and even making a cup of tea leaves me breathless. Is there anything that can be done that doesn’t involve surgery to improve my quality of life? I don’t think I can cope much longer.

A: There are estimated to be around two million sufferers of angina, a pain or discomfort in the chest usually caused by coronary heart disease. (February is National Heart Month).

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admin | February 28, 2009

www.vascuworld.com

A growing community, join in.

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admin | February 27, 2009

The $787 billion economic stimulus bill approved by Congress will provide $1.1 billion for federal researchers to compare a variety of medical treatments that are all prescribed for the same conditions. The goal is to find which drugs, devices and surgery really work, and to stop using costly ineffective methods.

While it sounds good in theory, many people are worried about how it will translate in the real world. Most consumers believe doctors — not the government or insurance companies — ultimately should make decisions about what treatments are best for their patients. Will the effort to reduce health care costs by comparing treatments ultimately undermine the relationship between doctors and patients? That’s the issue explored by Dr. Pauline Chen in her latest Doctor and Patient column.

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admin | February 27, 2009

   Niagara Falls

                            MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER

                       Niagara’s Premier Health Network

 

 

Michael E. Merhige, M.D., F.A.C.C.

Medical Director

 

                        January 20, 2009

 

I am writing in response to yours of 12/19/08 regarding clinical utility of Enhanced External Counterpulsation.

 

I have reviewed the medical necessity criteria that you forwarded for EECP rendered after 04/15/08 in which the corporate medical guidelines state that the “use of EECP is medically appropriate for patients…with disabling angina… refractory to maximal medical therapy….not readily amenable to surgical intervention.”

 

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admin | February 27, 2009

While commonly known as Black History Month, February is also American Heart Month, aimed at increasing the awareness of heart disease, which is the No. 1 cause of death in the nation.

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is also the leading cause of death among African-Americans and combined with other cardiovascular diseases, account for more than 30 percent of all deaths annual among African-Americans.

Jerome Brown understands the seriousness of the disease and its effects after he lost his mother, Sylvia, died in 2006 at the age of 49.

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admin | February 26, 2009

What may be good for the heart could be bad for the brain. Lowering cholesterol, especially bad LDL cholesterol, appears to reduce the risk of heart attacks. But new studies suggest that very low cholesterol might pose unexpected problems for the nervous system.

Researchers have analyzed data from a long-term study of Japanese American men in Honolulu. Blood samples of healthy men were measured in the early 1990s. During the next decade researchers noted who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Those with low LDL cholesterol initially were significantly more likely to develop this neurological disorder (Movement Disorders, online, March 31, 2008).

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admin | February 26, 2009

Moving nation from sick care toward wellness care

 

Associated Press

 

 

Think 3 Ps: Good health care is preventive, predictive and personalized, a rarity today in a crisis-oriented care system far better at treating disease than keeping it at bay. To help change that, one of the nation’s top medical groups starts a major push for what patients might call whole-body wellness care.

“Health is more than the absence of disease,” says Dr. Ralph Snyderman, who headed a meeting of the prestigious Institute of Medicine to get onto Congress’ radar this health-promotion approach, what jargon-loving doctors call “integrative medicine.”

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admin | February 26, 2009

Ed. Note: Dr. Holly Andersen is dual board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Sports Medicine and is an assistant professor of medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Andersen has been selected as one of America’s “Best Doctors” every year by Castle Connolly since 2001, and in 2008 was named by the Consumers’ Research Council of America as one of “America’s Top Cardiologists.” We’re proud to have her offering health tips for American Heart Month.

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