The ubiquitous communications device is proving to be a life saver, writes medical reporter ANDRÉ PICARD. Paramedics can send ECG scans to cardiologist kilometres away at the hospital who can then prepare for emergency surgery

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
February 6, 2008

Brian Doerner, drummer with the rock band Saga, was feeling unusually tired and hungry the day after a gig so he decided to scarf down some fast food and have a nap.

But, as he bit into an onion ring, his left arm went numb and he began sweating profusely - classic signs of a heart attack. Mr. Doerner's spouse, who initially thought he was joking, called 911.

Within minutes of that fateful call last October, firefighte...

 

By CARLY WEEKS
Globe and Mail
February 21, 2008 at 9:21 AM EST

People who suffer a heart attack or stroke at night and on weekends are much more likely to die than those who fall ill during regular working hours, according to new research that paints a troubling picture of the varying availability of medical treatment at hospitals.

In separate studies, researchers found a substantial difference in survival rates that suggests patients who experience some medical traumas on weekdays during business hours may have access to better treatment and care.

The results send a strong message about the varying levels of care available at different times, and could have implications for hospital staffing d...

 

she is ok about me doing karate,but says no fighting, "question", does she think my heart will explode if i get hit in chest while sparing,she never said, so does having some stents in thei,r mean my heart is a a walking timebomb,by the way i took up karate after heart attack,and i am at preasent a white belt,and i love doing it.

 

Survey Uncovers the Life-Changing Effects of a Heart Attack
and Critical Need for Education

Issued – Thursday December 8, 2005, Dallas — A new survey reveals a majority of heart attack survivors characterize their attack as a life-altering “wake-up call,” giving them renewed priorities and a second chance at life. However, many of those surveyed also say their heart attack left them with feelings of depression, hopelessness or fear. In fact, the survey showed that heart attack survivors are more likely to fear having another attack than death. Surprisingly, the survey also showed that while an overwhelming majority acknowledge their increased risk for another attack, 40 percent admit they are not doing everything they can...

 

But too many go without this valuable form of care, experts say
-- Robert Preidt

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Experts in cardiac care have issued new "performance measures" meant to boost patient enrollment in cardiac rehabilitation programs.

They say too many heart attack patients aren’t getting the benefit of this form of care.

The new guidelines will also set standards of excellence for these programs and are compiled by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR), the American College of Cardiology (ACC), and the American Heart Association (AHA).

Experts note that fewer than 30 percent of eligible patients ...

 

From Robert Longley,
Your Guide to U.S. Gov Info

Symptoms may appear up to a month before attack
Research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that women often experience new or different physical symptoms as long as a month or more before experiencing heart attacks.

Among the 515 women studied, 95-percent said they knew their symptoms were new or different a month or more before experiencing their heart attack, or Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI). The symptoms most commonly reported were unusual fatigue (70.6-percent), sleep disturbance (47.8-percent), and shortness of breath (42.1-percent).

Many women never had chest pains
Surprisingly, fewer than 30% reported having ches...

 

Tue Oct 2, 2007 12:44pm EDT
By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although quite rare, heart attacks can occur in adolescents without heart defects; and a case series reported by two cardiologists from The Heart Center at Akron Children's Hospital, Ohio, serves as a of reminder this.

Reporting in the current issue of Pediatrics, Drs. John R. Lane and Giora Ben-Shachar describe nine healthy adolescents (eight boys and one girl), ages 12 to 20 years, who developed severe chest pains and met the criteria for a diagnosis of heart attack.

Eight of the patients had abnormal EKGs, all of them had abnormal cardiac enzyme levels, and three had abnormalities revealed by echocardiogram. Heart rhythm abnor...

 

By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY
A sharp drop in heart attack deaths in more than a dozen countries coincides with global efforts to make sure patients receive proven treatments, doctors report today.
A study of 44,372 patients in the USA, Canada, Europe and South America from 1999 to 2006 found that deaths, heart failure and cardiogenic shock (when the heart goes into shock and loses pumping power) all declined in patients hospitalized for heart attacks or for life-threatening chest pain.

In 2001, the American Heart Association launched an effort to encourage doctors to follow guidelines for heart care based on the latest scientific evidence. Two years ago, the agency that pays for Medicare began docking hospitals part o...

 

An elderly New Zealand man who suffered a heart attack at a hardware store was revived by a salesman who just happened to be demonstrating a defibrillator to store staff.

The man, who was in his 80s, collapsed in an aisle of the Placemakers store in Albany, near Auckland, and his heart was not beating when salesman Gavin MacDonell attached the machine to his chest.

It was the ultimate sales pitch demonstration for Mr MacDonell, who has been a St John Ambulance volunteer paramedic for 20 years.

"Once we got a shock into him he started to gag, and we thought 'this bloke's coming back'," he told the New Zealand Herald newspaper.

"The people in the shop that were working there were just blown away...

 

Reality Doesn't Always Match the Chest-Clutching Hollywood Image
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Jan. 24, 2006

They call it the "Hollywood Heart Attack" -- the actor clutching his chest before keeling over. But in real life, most people are clueless about actual symptoms of a heart attack, a new poll shows.

The survey was conducted in December 2005 by Harris Interactive for PDL BioPharma, whose products include drugs to treat heart attacks.

Participants were 2,515 U.S. adults. More than half had been diagnosed with a heart attack or had a friend or family member who had had a heart attack (1,370 participants).

You might expect them to ace the surve...