CVD News Watch for the Weekend August 15
Looking forward to your second Olympics weekend? Be aware, though, that watching stressful sports events might just not be good for your heart. Happy reading!
Archive for the In The News category
CVD News Watch for the Weekend, August 1
It’s Friday again and I am bringing you good and not-so-good news from the CVD front.
CVD biotech watch
Football is fun - but dangerous to your heart
Major sports events are fun - but also dangerous for the heart and the blood vessels of the fans. I have just lived through another major sports tournament this year - the European Football Championships held in Switzerland (my current place of residence) and Austria .
Two years ago, it was the World Football Championships (known as THE WORLD CUP) in Germany (my place of residence then) that I could experience.
Dr. Michael DeBakey, cardiovascular sciences pioneer, passed away at age 99
He is a legend in cardiovascular medicine. He is a pioneer in open-heart surgery and cardiovascular devices. He was instrumental in developing innovations such as heart pumps and artificial hearts, and interventions such arterial bypass surgery and heart transplants. Dr. Michael DeBakey, the legendary innovator and doctor dies of natural causes at the age of 99, Dallas Morning News reports.
With his medical innovations, DeBakey saved the lives of thousands- even millions of people from all walks of life, the known and unknown, the young and the old, the rich and the poor. He is also instrumental in the development of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (M.A.S.H.) for the American military, an innovation which save American lives in the front. He himself was touched by the monster of heart disease when his first wife died of a heart attack in 1972. He benefited from his own invention when he had to undergo heart surgery to fix a damaged aorta in 2006.
Remembering Tim Russert
Instead of featuring a heart(y) celebrity this month, I would like to pay my respects to Tim Russert of NBC.
I was travelling around Western Europe when I heard of his unexpected death. Even here in the old continent, his name and face was known, especially among the English-speaking community. Russert was a respected political journalist whose opinion carried a lot of weight in the political scene.
Getting back to rhythm: The latest on atrial fibrillation
We have all heard and used the idioms “my heart is racing”and “my heart missed a beat”. However, they are not just figures of speech. They happen literally - with a condition called atrial fibrillation or AF for short.
The general term for irregular heartbeat is arrhythmia and AF is the most common form of arrhythmia in the United States, according to a recent review in the ScienceDaily. A normal adult heart at rest beats around 50 to 100 beats per minute. A heart with AF beats much faster and very irregularly, making it “race” and “miss a beat.” More →
Raquel Billiones has a PhD in Biology and has over 15 years experience as a researcher, scientific English teacher, and medical writer. Since 2006, she has been a freelance WAHM specializing in medical writing and scientific documentation. 
