Saliglasa Blogs
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What Can Break Your Heart?
Sept 4, 2024: By Dr. Kebede
You might be thinking of situations like losing a loved one, being betrayed by a friend, witnessing children suffer, or going through a painful breakup. These are all emotionally intense experiences, but what do they have to do with medical conditions? Quite a lot, actually.
There’s a fascinating condition known as Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, or “Broken Heart Syndrome,” first described in Japan in 1990. This condition occurs when significant emotional or physical stress—such as a natural disaster, devastating news, a serious accident, or intense fear—causes a sudden weakening of the heart muscle. People experiencing this may develop physical symptoms like chest pressure, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and sweating. Interestingly, while these individuals often have normal coronary arteries, their echocardiograms (heart ultrasounds) reveal a bulging left ventricle due to the weakened muscle, which resembles a “tako-tsubo,” a pot used in Japan to catch octopuses. Stress hormones are believed to play a role in “stunning” the heart muscle, causing it to temporarily lose function. This condition, more common in women than in men, is typically self-limiting, with symptoms improving within weeks. While not every emotional heartbreak leads to Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, the condition is a powerful reminder of how stress can profoundly affect our physical health.
Research also shows that people with high levels of persistent stress are at a greater risk for coronary artery disease than the general population. One explanation for this is that stress triggers the release of hormones like adrenaline (the fight-or-flight hormone) and cortisol. Both hormones raise blood pressure, and cortisol also increases blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Over time, an excess of these stress hormones can contribute to the formation of plaque in the coronary arteries. Additionally, people who are chronically stressed often resort to unhealthy habits to manage their stress such as smoking, excessive drinking, using drugs both legal and illegal to mask their symptoms which in turn increase their risk for cardiovascular diseases
Most people know they can reduce their risk of coronary artery disease by maintaining healthy blood pressure and blood sugar levels, lowering cholesterol, losing excess weight, staying physically active, and quitting smoking. However, fewer people have the tools to effectively manage chronic stress and often turn to legal or illegal substances to numb these unpleasant feelings. At Saliglasa, we offer coaching services to help patients tap into their innate stress-coping mechanisms and explore other resources to better manage chronic stress.
As we approach Sudden Cardiac Death Awareness month in October (don’t forget to sign up for the free CPR training we are offering @ https://t.ly/Io9CM ) it is important not to forget that stress management is an important intervention for a healthy heart.
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What Ails Your Heart?
The heart is my favorite organ. Last month, in July, I gushed about the “Wonders of Your Heart.” I hope that reading it gave you a moment to reflect on the amazing organ beating inside
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The Marvels of Your Heart
The first time I saw an ultrasound of a beating heart, an echocardiogram, I was inmedical school. I remember being blown away by this incredible organ, beatingindependently without needing to be plugged into an outlet.
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The Medicalization of Social Problems
On February 22, 2024, Reuters published an article reporting that the widespread use of weight loss drugs could boost the US economy by up to 1% in the coming years, potentially adding 100 billion dollars by the end of the decade. This projection is astonishing not just for the enormous dollar amount but also for its implications for the medical profession and the healthcare industry.
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The Waves of Healthcare Reform: A Call for Smart Communities
The current landscape of healthcare is undergoing significant changes driven by innovation and redesign efforts. Key players, including digital technology utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI), are reshaping how care is delivered. Major corporations like Walmart, Boeing, and Amazon are directly contracting with health systems to manage employee health benefits, aiming to reduce costs.
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Primum Non Nocere
Prmum non nocere- a Latin phrase meaning “first do no harm” is a precept that is taught in medical school and is believed to have originated from the “Father of Medicine” Hippocrates. He is recorded as having said “The physician must … have two special objects in view with regard to disease, namely, to do good or to do no harm”.
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