Cardiologists As “Heart Whisperers”
From the Dallas Morning News, a creative moniker if there ever was one, but it should probably be reserved for primary care specialists instead:
DALLAS — Heart attacks are the No. 1 cause of death and a major cause of disability in America. For nearly half of the casualties, the first symptom is the last. That’s how cardiovascular disease has earned the nickname “silent killer” — you never know when it will strike.
Doctors are trying to change that by treating heart disease as a progressive problem. They are becoming “heart whisperers,” seeking new tests to read the small stresses that can, unchecked, grow into big ones.
“By the time someone rolls in with a heart attack, his family will look at me bewildered, and the patient may say, ‘Doc, what happened?'” says Dr. Bruce Gordon of Heart Hospital Baylor Plano. “But it’s not what happened. It’s what’s been happening. The process has been going on for decades.”
It’s a process that can be accelerated by high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, tobacco use and secondhand smoke.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
