September 26th, 2011 by PJSkerrett in Health Tips
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The death of Kara Kennedy, the only daughter of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, at age 51 from an apparent heart attack while exercising, was yet another tragedy for one of the country’s most prominent political families. It also offers a reminder of the possible long-term effects of cancer and its treatment.
In 2002, Kennedy was diagnosed with lung cancer that her doctors initially said was inoperable. Her father refused to accept that diagnosis, according to an article in the Boston Globe. He found doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who thought they could treat the cancer. They removed a portion of Ms. Kennedy’s right lung and then administered radiation and chemotherapy. She lived for another nine years, in apparently good health.
While the cause of Kennedy’s death has not yet been confirmed, the long-term effects of her lung cancer treatment could have played a role. Cancer survivors are often at increased risk of heart disease. That’s because the treatments used to fight cancer—drugs, radiation, and hormones—can damage the heart and arteries. (These are detailed in a Harvard Heart Letter article on cancer therapy and heart disease.)
If life were completely fair, cancer survivors would be exempt from future health problems. Sadly, that isn’t the case. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
September 26th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Opinion, True Stories
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Whenever a patient asks whether they can exercise, or go here, or there, I liken it to them asking whether they can live life. My answer is always the same…YES. The alternative seems terrible.
In this regard, moving on in the face of illness, let me share with you the writings of a very famous twitteratti, my friend, Melissa T (or @drSnit). Her post today about “doing sick well” struck my optimistic neurons.
You may wonder, how it is possible; putting sick and well together in the same sentence? Let me share her writings…
Dr Snit, author of the blog, “Living with Lupus–But Dying of Everything Else,” should know. She lives with the disease called Lupus–a mysterious ailment known for its flares of inflammation. These spasms of joint, muscle and overall body aches make a post-ride soreness feel like nothing. It’s a tough lot having Lupus.
But yet, Dr Snit stomps forward in life–in defiance of the most inflamed of the inflammatory diseases. She writes Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
September 22nd, 2011 by HarvardHealth in Health Tips, True Stories
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Most people are pretty good judges of what’s going on with their own bodies. But telling a heart attack from other causes of chest pain is tough stuff—even, it turns out, for highly trained doctors. That’s why I thought this personal story, written by a Harvard doctor who has heart disease, would make an interesting read. It’s an excerpt—the full version can be found in Heart Disease: A guide to preventing and treating coronary artery disease, an updated Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.
Early one spring, I noticed a burning sensation high in my abdomen whenever I walked up a hill or worked out on the treadmill. I felt perfectly healthy otherwise. I had lots of energy and could do high-level exercise on the treadmill—once the burning sensation went away—without becoming short of breath. I thought it was just heartburn, so I started taking powerful acid-suppressing pills. They didn’t help.
Sometimes when I would feel the burning in my chest, I would remember an old saying to the effect that “A doctor who takes care of himself has a fool for a patient.” Still, I hesitated; I didn’t want to waste the time of a cardiologist if all I had was heartburn.
But one morning as I walked across the street from the garage to my office in the hospital, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
September 16th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Health Tips, Opinion
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Before I even start, let me say this to my triathlete friends…
I really like you all. And…I am sorry for how I feel about your sport’s pinnacle, the Ironman triathlon. But I was poked into writing this post. When asked the question of whether the Ironman is safe for the middle-aged heart, what was I to do? Lie?
Each August, my hometown, Louisville, KY, gets overrun, over-swum and over-ridden with “Iron people.” No, these humans aren’t rust colored, or all that hardened, but they are indeed a determined lot. Triathletes, or iron people if you will, wake up before sunrise to swim, bike or run. Then they eat; some go to work (barely), and then they do the training thing again in the evening. Calling these athletes focused would surely be an understatement.
So it is each summer that I endure the same question: “Dr. Mandrola, did you do the Ironman?”
“No…I just ride bikes.”
But this year was different. Before I could launch into my usual dissertation on how training for Ironman-length triathlons causes excess inflammation, coronary calcium, atrial fibrillation, divorce, etc., etc., another question quickly popped up.
“What did you think of that guy who died during this year’s race?” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
September 13th, 2011 by PJSkerrett in Health Tips, True Stories
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It isn’t easy to get rid of a harmful habit like drinking too much, or to make healthy changes like losing weight and exercising more. Media stories about people who run marathons a year after surgery to bypass cholesterol-clogged arteries or who climb Mt. McKinley after being diagnosed with diabetes are interesting, but they don’t resonate with me. Mostly it’s because they often leave out the hard work needed to change and the backtracking that invariably accompanies it.
I ran across a truly inspiring story the other day in the American Journal of Health Promotion—one that shows how most of us ultimately manage to make changes that improve our lives. The journal’s founder and editor, Michael P. O’Donnell, wrote a moving essay about his father, Kevin O’Donnell. Once an overweight workaholic who smoked and drank heavily, ate mostly meat and potatoes, and didn’t exercise—and who eventually needed a double bypass—Kevin O’Donnell gradually made changes to improve his health. Now, at age 85, he has the cardiovascular system of a 65 year old and is working on a house-building project in North Korea.
How did Kevin O’Donnell engineer such a remarkable transformation? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
