Studies show that 48 percent of people can develop depression following a heart attack. But experts say this depression may not be purely psychological. After a cardiac event, the heart may be unable to pump blood as efficiently—causing patients to lose energy.
In addition, chemicals are released in the brain that can work to physiologically cause mood changes. Interestingly, the same study showed that women who suffer heart attacks are 20 percent more likely to develop depression.
The good news: most of these cases can be treated with anti-depressant drugs.
Don’t forget to join the Twitter Chat on heart health tomorrow, February 28 from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. ET.
This hour-long chat which will feature two leading interventional cardiologists, Dr. John P. Reilly, from Ochsner Medical Center, and Dr. Herbert D. Aronow, from St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
They will be sharing their expertise and life-saving tips on heart disease prevention, risks, recognizing the symptoms, treatment options, as well as women and heart health.
Mended Hearts is joining the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and USA Today health reporter Liz Szabo in hosting this Twitter Chat.
If you have a question or want to share your heart story then join this hour-long chat.
You can participate or follow along by using the hashtag #heartchat.
Three coronary artery bypass grafts, a LIMA to LAD and two saphenous vein grafts – one to the right coronary artery (RCA) system and one to the obtuse marginal (OM) system. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Your doctor has recommended that you have coronary artery bypass surgery. But what does that actually mean?
Your heart is located in the center of your chest. It is surrounded by your rib cage and protected by your breastbone. Your heart’s job is to keep blood continually circulating throughout your body.
The vessels that supply the body with oxygen-rich blood are called arteries.
The vessels that return blood to the heart are called veins.
Like any other muscle in the body, the heart depends on a steady supply of oxygen rich blood. The arteries that carry this blood supply to the heart muscle are called coronary arteries.
Sometimes, these blood vessels can narrow or become blocked by deposits of fat, cholesterol and other substances collectively known as plaque.
Over time, plaque deposits can narrow the vessels so much that normal blood flow is restricted. In some cases, the coronary artery becomes so narrow that the heart muscle itself is in danger.
Coronary bypass surgery attempts to correct this serious problem. In order to restore normal blood flow, the surgeon removes a portion of a blood vessel from the patient’s leg or chest, most probably the left internal mammary artery and the saphenous vein.
Your doctor uses one or both of these vessels to bypass the old, diseased coronary artery and to build a new pathway for blood to reach the heart muscle. These transplanted vessels are called grafts and depending on your condition, your doctor may need to perform more than one coronary artery bypass graft.
Of course, operating on the heart is a complex and delicate process and in the case of bypass surgery, your doctor will most likely need to stop your heart before installing the graft.
During the time that your heart is not beating, a special machine, called a heart-lung machine, will take over the job of circulating and oxygenating your blood.
By using this machine, your doctor is able to repair the heart without interfering with the blood flow to the rest of the body.
Following surgery, your heart will be restarted and you will be disconnected from the heart-lung machine
April 8th is Cushing’s Awareness Day. This day has been chosen as a day of awareness as it is the birthday of Dr. Harvey Cushing, a neurosurgeon, who discovered this illness.
Cushing’s disease is a rare hormone disease caused by prolonged exposure to high levels of the stress hormonecortisol in the blood, whereas Addison’s disease is caused by the opposite: the lack of cortisol. For more background information on both see this previous post. Ramona Bates MD, of Suture for a Living, has written an excellent review (in plain language) about Cushing’s Disease on occasion of Cushing Awareness Day at EmaxHealth.
From this you can learn that Cushing’s disease can be due to the patient taking cortisol-like glucocorticoids, such as prednisone for asthma (exogenous cause), but can also arise because people’s bodies make too much of cortisol itself. This may be due to a…
Heart Attack Warning Symptoms speaks to the 7 main symptoms of a heart attack. It uses real women’s stories to personalize the heart attack experience, and encourages women who experience these symptoms to get checked out.
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