Your heart’s ability to pump oxygen-rich blood throughout the body depends on a number of complex functions. The heart’s four valves allow blood to flow through your heart in the right direction. When they don’t open or close properly, the flow of blood throughout your body is disrupted. Heart valve disease is diagnosed when one or more …
Understanding your heart valve disease diagnosis Read More »
If a recent mammogram showed you have dense breast tissue, you may wonder what this means for your breast cancer risk. Studies show that dense breast tissue makes breast cancer screening more difficult and increases the risk of breast cancer. A dense breast tissue diagnosis is an opportunity to review your breast cancer risk factors …
If you’ve received a diagnosis related to the heart or blood vessels, it’s normal to be frightened and a little confused. The information out there on heart conditions can be overwhelming. “Heart disease can be confusing at first,” said Michael Mack, MD, heart surgeon and the chair of Baylor Scott & White Health’s cardiovascular governing …
So, you were diagnosed with a heart condition. Now what? Read More »
If you often experience trouble swallowing that won’t go away, you may be living with eosinophilic esophagitis, or EoE. This newly recognized chronic immune condition wasn’t on the radar until the 1990s but by some estimates, it affects 1 in every 2,000 people. Unless you’ve already been diagnosed with EoE, it’s probably not a condition …
Difficulty swallowing? It could be eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) Read More »
After decades in education as a teacher, principal and administrator, Pam Neves was enjoying her retirement. She was relishing time with family, traveling, fun with friends and the occasional pickle ball game. There was one aspect of life after retirement that she never saw coming—cancer. Like many others, Pam’s life changed suddenly and completely. In …
Living life to the fullest in the face of breast cancer Read More »
There are many people whose first trip to see a cardiologist is taken in the back of an ambulance. That is unfortunate because today, cardiologists can help those at risk prevent serious heart and vascular events—like heart attack, stroke or even heart failure—hopefully keeping you from ever having to take that ride. While it is …
How to know when it’s time to see a cardiologist Read More »
Did you know that nearly half of all adults in the US have high blood pressure? As a practicing interventional cardiologist, I see patients with high blood pressure, or hypertension, every day and can verify this statistic. The good news I give to those who do have high blood pressure is this—they have the ability …
7 simple healthy habits to lower your blood pressure Read More »
A diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AFib) can be scary. But it’s a condition that affects millions of Americans and—thanks to advances in the field of electrophysiology—is manageable in the vast majority of cases. In fact, the question typically now is no longer, ‘can anything be done to manage it?’ But rather, ‘what is the best …
Back pain is all-too-common and unfortunately, pinpointing the exact cause can be a challenge. If you’re waking up with back pain every day, you may be wondering what’s happening during the night to cause it. Could it be that your mattress is too old, too firm or not firm enough? Or maybe it’s because you’re …
Nurses are many things—our caregivers, our advocates, our hand-holders, our cheerleaders and bedside companions. Our unshakable guardian angels. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a nurse’s loving, expert care, you know firsthand how a simple vitals check and a smile can make a world of difference on a dark day. To the nurses …
Why I love being a nurse: 5 RNs share what nursing means to them Read More »