heart-letter
I am an 84-year-old man with atrial fibrillation, mild heart failure, and high blood pressure. My doctor had me wear a Holter monitor and get a SPECT scan. Now he wants me to have a cardiac MRI. What info would this test give that he doesn’t already have?
What can be done for endothelial dysfunction that causes coronary artery spasms and requires nitroglycerin at least four times a day?
I tried taking niacin to increase my HDL but didn’t like the flushing it caused. A friend told me about no-flush niacin, which works like a charm. Why not tell your readers about it?
My doctor told me I have an enlarged heart. What is this? What causes it and what does it mean for my health?
I have been taking ginkgo pills for my memory for several years. I was just diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, and my doctor put me on Coumadin. Is it okay to keep taking ginkgo?
Are the coronary arteries more prone to developing blockages than arteries elsewhere in the body? When arteries from other parts of the body are used in bypass surgery, does their tendency to become blocked change?
I always thought that coronary and heart meant pretty much the same thing. If that’s so, isn’t “coronary heart disease” redundant?
I am a 59-year-old man. The results of my latest blood test showed that my LDL cholesterol was 67, which was flagged as low. (I do not take any cholesterol-lowering drugs.) Should I be worried, or do anything to raise my LDL?
I have tried all of the statin drugs to lower my cholesterol, but each one has caused severe muscle pain. Are there any non-statin medications I could try using to lower my cholesterol?
My last echocardiogram showed mild diastolic dysfunction. What does that mean?