Congestive heart failure refers to the inability of the heart to perform its basic function, which is pumping blood throughout the body. It comes in various forms, causing swelling of the legs and shortness of breath. It is a very debilitating condition that few outside medicine are aware of. A new study offers a unique treatment, but more importantly for our discussion, it sheds light on how “science” advances and looks at an infrequently used term, hormesis.
heart failure
In the first year of medical school, the first lecture in any class often began by explaining why this was the most crucial subject. I learned that the skin was important because it kept all the other pieces inside and that the intestine was the most important because when you spread out its inner surface, it would cover the globe. I even learned that the brain was the most important, but as George Carlin pointed out, “Look who is telling you that.” In any event, a new study tries to determine which disease is most important to us based on linguistic analysis. You are going to love this.
Bundled payments, paying one fee for hospitalization and the next 90 days of care, reduces the cost of surgical care. But for a medical hospitalization there's no evidence of cost savings. Why?
Reductionism is the basis for most science. Since so many factors can be involved, isolating them in a lab-bench experiment can yield valuable insights. For epidemiological studies, it doesn’t work as well.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. To learn why, along with how best to prevent it and to clarify any misperceptions about the dynamic nature of the female cardiovascular system ...
Finally, a study where espousing the thought -- If you cared about my heart and well-being, then you wouldn’t stress me -- could be a win-win. Can anger trigger a heart attack? How about intense physical activity? Here's a closer look at heart health and heartbreak.
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control reveals that the number of heart-failure-related deaths is on the rise, in contrast to the slow, steady decline seen for over a decade. Another key finding was that the death rate was higher for blacks than for whites or Hispanics.
Sodium restriction has been used to help treat heart failure for many years. But new data suggest that the strategy may not be effective in preventing either additional hospitalizations or death. Could it be that salt isn't the villain we've come to think it is?
A new study from a respected Swedish institute tries to implicate sweetened drinks as a cause for heart failure. But even a cursory review shows that the conclusion is utter nonsense. As it turns out, what these researchers really provided was an opportunity for us all to see what a very flawed study looks like.
A newly-approved Novartis drug combination showed impressive efficacy in reducing cardiac death and morbidity from congestive heart failure, one of the most common ailments taking the lives and health of America s senior population.
n one of the longest studies of the cardiac effects of alcohol (the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities or ARIC study), Dr. Alexandra Gonçalves of the Brigham and Women s Hospital and colleagues examined data from nearly 15,000 participants.
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