Posted by North Ohio Heart Center and Ohio Medical Group on Thu, Feb 11, 2010
Dr. Hassan Ibrahim of North Ohio Heart Center recently was named as the new Medical Director of the Snyder/White Heart & Vascular Center at Fisher-Titus Medical Center in Norwalk, Ohio.
Specializing in cardiology, Dr. Ibrahim will take on the responsibility of leading the physicians at the Snyder/White HVC as of January 6, 2010. The Fisher-Titus HVC “provides a one-stop location for heart and vascular services to residents in the FTMC service area.” This high-level of quality care is directly in line with the cardiovascular commitment of the NOHC and OMG Partners For Your Health physicians.
The HVC in Norwalk, Ohio “includes two state-of-the-art cardiovascular labs, an 11-bay pre- and post-operative area, and space for Non-Invasive Cardiac Diagnostics including Stress Lab, Echo Lab, Pacemaker/Device Clinics, EKG and Holter Monitoring,” according to FTMC’s website.
Dr. Ibrahim is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease and has affiliations throughout northeast Ohio. He is currently practicing at the Norwalk and Sandusky locations of North Ohio Heart Center and his specialties include General Cardiology, Invasive and Non-invasive Cardiology, Stress Echocardiography, Transesophageal Echocardiography, and Congestive Heart Failure.
Posted by North Ohio Heart Center and Ohio Medical Group on Mon, Jan 18, 2010
With most people still recuperating from the busy holiday season, it's time to focus on getting on track with your heart health. “Holiday Heart” isn’t as fun as it sounds. In hospitals, it describes episodes of atrial fibrillation that tend to occur during the holiday season, or other occasions for celebration which lead us to overindulge.
Certain celebratory behaviors can lead the heart to speed up and become irregular, giving us chest discomfort, or throwing blood clots to either the coronary arteries (resulting in a heart attack), or the brain (resulting in a stroke) …or even cause death.
Most cases of Holiday Heart start as "paroxysmal atrial fibrillation," the Heart Disease column from About.com explains. That is an atrial fibrillation that starts suddenly, and after a time, stops just as suddenly. Patients will experience the sudden onset of rapid heart rate, palpitations, and often dizziness or shortness of breath. When their doctors do an ECG, they will see atrial fibrillation.
In many cases, atrial fibrillation is caused by underlying heart disease or by aging. Sometimes it has no identifiable cause. But in Holiday Heart, the cause is generally an unusual sensitivity to alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is known to produce atrial fibrillation if ingested in large quantities, even in "normal" individuals. Up to 60% of patients who engage in heavy binge drinking will develop episodes of atrial fibrillation. But some individuals are extremely sensitive to alcohol, such that even moderate amounts - two or three drinks, and sometimes a single drink - can trigger episodes of atrial fibrillation.
Health Central.com explains that Holiday Heart Syndrome can also occur as a result of:
- Recreational drug use
- Diet drugs like ephedrine
- Cold remedies
- Excessive caffeine or nicotine usage
Most patients recover fully and are somewhat chastened by their experience. Just remember, a “binge” of almost anything can poison an otherwise healthy heart, and damage a sick one. Give your heart a holiday and fill it with love and joy instead!
Posted by W. Scott Sheldon, DO, FACC on Wed, Jan 06, 2010
Research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, showed that adults with hypertension (high blood pressure) may be more likely to have cardiovascular problems if they also have vitamin D deficiency.
1,739 adults enrolled in a long-term health study were tracked by Harvard Medical School's Thomas Wang, MD, and colleagues. Participants were 59 years old, on average, with no history of heart problems.
When their blood levels of vitamin D were checked, 28% had vitamin D deficiency, including 9% with severe vitamin D deficiency.
By the end of the study period:
- 120 participants developed a first cardiovascular event including fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease;
- 28 participants had fatal or nonfatal cerebrovascular events such as nonhemorrhagic stroke;
- 9 participants were diagnosed with heart failure; and
- 8 had occurrences of claudication, fatigue in the legs during activity.
People with vitamin D deficiency and hypertension were about twice as likely as people without hypertension and vitamin D deficiency to have a cardiovascular event during the study. Vitamin D deficiency wasn't linked to cardiovascular problems in people who don't have hypertension.
When researchers adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure, the risk remained significant with a 62 percent higher risk of a cardiovascular event in participants with low levels of vitamin D compared to those with higher levels.
The American Heart Association recommends that healthy people get adequate nutrients by eating a variety of foods in moderation, rather than by taking supplements. Food sources of vitamin D include milk, salmon, mackerel, sardines, cod liver oil and some fortified cereals.
Vitamin or mineral supplements aren’t a substitute for a balanced, nutritious diet that limits excess calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and dietary cholesterol. This dietary approach has been shown to reduce coronary heart disease risk in healthy people and those with coronary disease.
About the author:
Dr. Sheldon completed his Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic
Foundation. He specializes in Interventional Cardiology including
Balloon Angioplasty, Laser, Directional Brachy Therapy, Atherectomy,
Stent Placement, Rotoblator, Perepheral Intervention, Renal Stenting,
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Stenting and Acute Myocardial Infarction. Dr.
Sheldon sees patients in our Elyria and Sandusky offices.
.
More blogs from Dr. Sheldon...
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Posted by North Ohio Heart Center and Ohio Medical Group on Mon, Jan 04, 2010
“Depression is more likely to break your heart than smoking or eating fatty food,” begins an article from the Harvard University Gazette. "Recurrence of cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrest, severe chest pain and other problems is more closely linked to depression than to high cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes," according to a Harvard Medical School publication.
Depressed people who also are anxious add to their problems. According to one recent study, whereas depression doubles the risk of heart problems recurring, anxiety triples that risk.
The Harvard publication notes that your mind and mood can push you into a chronic state of emergency readiness. Such people are ready to fight or run even when there's nothing to fight about or run from.
In real emergencies, stress hormones rise, blood vessels constrict, your heart speeds up, appetite slackens, and it's harder to fall asleep. Inflammatory chemicals increase in the blood, which becomes stickier in anticipation of wounds that will need healing. When the scare ends, this red alert shuts down - unless you are seriously depressed or anxious.
Then, stress hormones stay jacked up. Inflammation may damage the lining of your arteries. Blood vessels become less flexible. The heart responds more sluggishly to internal signals telling it to slow down as the body's demands change.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham offers some tips to keep your spirits up this holiday season.
- Avoid thinking that everything has to be perfect.
- Omit some of the holiday decorating or food preparation if it's too burdensome.
- Lower your expectations for family gatherings.
- Establish what your priorities are — to observe a religious holiday, gather around friends and family, or to simply spend some quiet time alone — and base your plans around those goals.
Posted by North Ohio Heart Center and Ohio Medical Group on Mon, Dec 28, 2009
The holidays have a way of intensifying everything, so though people may want to avoid family gatherings, isolation can also be bad for the heart and mind.
One study concluded that men who survive heart attacks and live alone have twice the average death rate. Another study found that people who did not talk to their doctors and rarely contacted friends or family were more likely to die in the nine years after a heart attack, regardless of their physical condition.
It's not so much living alone, or the size of your social circle, as the absence of relatives and friends to provide solace, advice, and help, according to the article from the Harvard University Gazette. So see the family and friends, and then manage the stress by following these tips from The University of Alabama at Birmingham:
- Slip away from gatherings if you begin to feel stressed
- Take breaks to relax whenever possible.
- Exercise regularly, even if it's just a brisk walk.
- Avoid overeating and excessive drinking.
- Accept family members and friends for the way they are.
- Delegate chores and responsibility.
- Set a budget and stick to it.
- Remember that you're not alone.
Communication is essential. Every one wants a happy holiday season, but we need to stop and remind ourselves of our priorities. If the feeling of loneliness and depression don't go away with the holiday season, you may need help from a professional.
Research so far finds that talk therapy lifts depression and anxiety and along with follow-up care it helps people take better care of themselves, cutting down the damage depression does to the heart.
Doctors who see heart patients, say the experts, "should be better prepared to ask their patients about stress, low mood, and isolation." If the doctor does not do this, then patients who feel down and out should let the doctor know.
Posted by North Ohio Heart Center and Ohio Medical Group on Wed, Dec 16, 2009
Researchers say optimistic people are less likely to have heart attacks, according to an article on WebMD. So next time you find yourself stuck in holiday traffic, try to smile and sing a carol favorite song, or do deep breathing exercises instead of honking your horn. It could save your life.
Researchers found that people who have a positive attitude during stressful events are 22% less likely to have a fatal or nonfatal heart attack than those who have negative attitudes.
"This is the first set of studies [looking at a large population] that shows that having positive feelings and positive attitudes during negative events may prevent first heart attacks," says researcher Karina Davidson, PhD, of Columbia University in New York.
"If you're in an uncomfortable situation, do something to distract yourself and take your mind off the problem," she tells WebMD.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA).
The findings add to growing evidence that our psychological well-being can affect our heart health, says past AHA president Sidney Smith, MD, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
In a second study, the same researchers asked 2,380 adults without heart disease two questions designed to determine whether they had optimistic personalities.
"The questions were: Are you optimistic about your future? And do you rarely expect things to go your way?" Davidson says.
Over the next 10 years, 274 of the participants suffered a heart attack. Participants who were considered optimistic based on their answers to the two questions were 12% less likely to have a heart attack than those who were not optimistic, she says.
When telling patients about the findings, Davidson likes to relate her own story. "When I moved to New York, my [mentor] told me, you'll be spending half your life in a taxi, so you can either have a stroke or enjoy the time," she says.