Alegent Health Cardiology Blog

Farewell

They say all good things must come to an end. Such wisdom probably counts for mediocre things, too. This represents my final submission to the Alegent Cardiology Blog and I’d like to occupy some electrons on your computer screen to thank all the people who’ve helped me with my writing along the way. My gratitude goes out to Alegent Health for allowing me to have a voice for my opinions. It’s not everywhere you’d find a large organization that provides blanket permission for an individual to spout off week after … Continue reading →

Doctors Behaving Badly

As odd as this might sound, my mother was upset when I declared my intention to go to medical school. It wasn’t the mountain of debt I was sure to incur since I’d already figured out how to get Uncle Sam to pick up the bill (a small deal that put me in a military uniform for a decade). It wasn’t the fact that medical school would delay the litter of bouncing grandbabies she wanted to fawn over. And it certainly wasn’t because she’d miss me—she’d already seen too much … Continue reading →

Running Races

This summer marks the 25th straight year that I’ve been running on a regular basis. Over the last quarter of a century I’ve done so many five- and 10-kilometer races that I’ve lost count. I’ve competed in 10-milers, half-marathons, 3-k and 25-k runs and every “k” in between, and enough marathons that my knees are starting to hold a grudge. Not that I win any of these, mind you. I’ve always been a fairly mediocre runner—generally placing in the top third of any race but never talented enough to post … Continue reading →

Smoking in the Military

The military has a long tradition of mixing warfare and tobacco. Years ago the army included a pack of smokes in every C-ration distributed to the troops; as a result it was more common for soldiers to take up smoking than to remain abstinent. The tobacco industry insured itself a whole generation of addicted consumers by volunteering their product to help the war effort. Years later, of course, we’ve inherited this tradition in the form of lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease among our veterans. When I was a young … Continue reading →

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Your Heart

I recently asked a patient about his compliance with therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and got an odd response. “What does it matter to you if I use my CPAP?” The CPAP to which he referred is the mask that OSA sufferers wear at night to improve their oxygen levels during sleep. On one level I can understand his question. This is a sleeping problem, after all—not exactly the realm of cardiology. Why should I care if he starts his day refreshed or drags himself out of bed feeling … Continue reading →

Unintended Consequences

Anyone who has flown on a commercial airline recently knows this story. You show up for your flight and are offered a choice: you can either pay an extra $25 to check your bags or try to pack all your vacation items into a rollerboard and schlep it on the plane with you. It didn’t use to be this way, of course. A couple of years ago an enterprising executive at one of the airlines decided that a clever way to enhance the company’s bottom line would be to charge … Continue reading →

Screening for Coronary Disease

The newspaper recently reported on new research meant to help doctors better identify patients at risk for heart attacks. Dr. Eric Topol, the director of California’s Scripps Translational Science Institute, announced the discovery of a clue found in the blood of people who are apparently on the verge of suffering the big one. “On Wednesday, Scripps researchers reported a new lead—by searching people’s blood for deformed cells that appear to flake off the lining of seriously diseased arteries. Topol’s team measured high levels of those cells floating in the blood … Continue reading →

Energy

I love coming in from a long run and collapsing on the couch in utter exhaustion, especially on a weekend. For the next hour I’m content to drift into a daze while I catch a rerun of High Plains Drifter or Goldfinger on AMC. My body slowly melts into the furniture and not a single digit wants to move. That kind of fatigue is enjoyable; not because of how it feels, per se, but because of what it signifies: I’ve just accomplished what I set out to do—completing a challenging … Continue reading →

Springtime Fitness

Who doesn’t love springtime? What a great way to end the cold, gray days of winter! As you can probably tell from my previous writing, I’m not a big fan of winter—especially in Nebraska, a state climate scientists visit to observe the effects of the ice age in action. But now that spring is here all is well again in the world. There’s no better time than the present to get your body back into shape for bikini season. For those of you who actually contemplate donning a skimpy bathing … Continue reading →

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

You’ve got to start exercising and lose weight. This is good advice for about two thirds of American adults. A doctor could dispense this recommendation to every person who walks through the clinic door and hit the nail on the head about 70% of the time. We Americans are not known for our slender, fit physiques and assiduous exercise habits. What about doctors? Well, it turns out that doctors are, in fact, healthier than people on the other end of the stethoscope, but only barely. Fifty-three percent of physicians in … Continue reading →