Showing 41 - 46 of 46
Heart attack and heart failure: Thedifference
Life, Dr Nithi Mahanonda, Published on 27/03/2012
» There are a few heart-related words (heart as in the vital organ, not emotional feelings) that often get confused. The first pair is "heart attack" and "heart failure" which are different yet somewhat similar.
Heart of the matter
Life, Dr Nithi Mahanonda, Published on 17/01/2012
» This is one of the most frequently asked questions I come across because a lot of people are concerned about heart disease. Interestingly though, many people don't even know where the heart actually lies. Most people believe it's between the lungs, on the left side of the chest. But in fact it lies in the middle of the chest, very slightly to the left.
Keep breathing
Life, Dr Nithi Mahanonda, Published on 28/02/2012
» There will always come a day when you have to take a deep breath before doing something. For example, one of my patients who had suffered from high blood pressure came to see me when she was (much) overweight. Yet, she had that confident smile. I opened her file and saw that her weight was 86.5kg (and her height was 162cm). I was about to give her a cordial advice, but I took a deep breath and looked at her record. A month ago, her weight was 91kg.
Avoiding the e word
Life, Dr Nithi Mahanonda, Published on 31/01/2012
» There are so many myths about exercise and heart disease, so many misunderstandings. Anyone who has heart disease is automatically regarded as being in a weakened state of health and it is assumed that his or her life could be in danger. Heart disease is certainly a very scary prospect for many people. Patients of mine with high blood pressure are always asking me whether they have it and that is a hard question to answer because high blood pressure can often lead to heart disease. Also, the medicines used to treat high blood pressure can sometimes be the same as those prescribed for heart disease.
Caring for the elderly
Life, Dr Nithi Mahanonda, Published on 14/02/2012
» More than half of my heart patients are above the age of 65. This doesn't come as a surprise since heart diseases usually come with advancing years; the older you are, the higher the risk. But in the not-too-distant future I expect that most of my patients will be 75, or older, because people are now living longer and this increased longevity means that our society contains a greater proportion of elderly citizens.
Controlling your cholesterol
Life, Dr Nithi Mahanonda, Published on 03/01/2012
» It is a widely accepted theory that high cholesterol causes heart disease, so many food brands are trying to advertise themselves as "healthy" by adding "cholesterol free" labels on their line of products. But if you look carefully you will see that they are usually products that are not made from animal fat to begin with (all dietary cholesterol comes from animal fat, not vegetable fat), like potato crisps, so the "cholesterol free" label is completely a non-issue; there's no way potato crisps can contain cholesterol unless they are deep-fried in animal fat. Therefore, you should look at the amount of calories in each serving instead.