Most people leave hospital with a DOAC and a thin explanation of what it does. Here is what apixaban, rivaroxaban, and dabigatran actually do, what to expect, and the few situations that need action.
The breakfast question patients ask most often is what will actually keep them full until lunch. This 10-minute smoothie answers it with viscous fibre, protein, and berries, and explains why the milk you pour in matters more than it looks.
Cholesterol is usually described as drifting up slowly with age. For women through menopause that is wrong in an important way, and one number on the panel can move in the wrong direction while appearing not to move at all.
T wave inversion describes a small wave on the tracing pointing down instead of up. In several of the heart's twelve viewpoints that is completely normal. What matters is which ones, and whether it is new.
Pericarditis is inflammation of the sac around the heart. The pain is sharp, worse lying flat, better sitting forward, and alarming enough to mimic a heart attack. Here is what causes it and what the evidence supports.
Muscle aches on a statin are real, and dismissing them is the fastest way to lose a patient. The more useful conversation starts one step earlier, with whether the statin was clearly needed at all.
Left ventricular hypertrophy, or LVH, is commonly seen on ECG reports and often means less than it sounds. The tracing measures electrical signals, not muscle thickness. Here is what the finding describes and what usually settles it.
ApoB is a cholesterol measurement gaining attention as a marker of heart risk. This article explains what it measures, how it relates to LDL cholesterol, and why triglycerides and lipoprotein(a) each remain part of a fuller, multifactorial picture.
A simple, non-invasive CT scan that detects calcified plaque in the arteries years before symptoms appear. If you or someone you know has been referred for a calcium score, this guide explains exactly what it measures, what your result means, and what to do next.
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By Professor Peter Barlis, Interventional Cardiologist and Founding Editor, Heart Matters. Published by Wiley.
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