Heart of the Matter: Recognizing Heart Attack Symptoms
One-third to one-half of people with coronary heart diseases are stricken unexpectedly with a heart attack, a myocardial infarction. An infarction is an area of heart muscle that dies because it doesn't receive enough oxygen due to insufficient bloo...
Heart of the Matter: Cardiovascular Care Before and After Heart Attacks
The mission of cardiac specialists is to take patients with known heart disease and aggressively teach them to understand their risk factors and improve their lifestyle Prevention needs to start early in life, but at any stage it makes a difference.
What Price?: Staggering Costs of Healthcare in the United States
The figures are staggering. Forty-four million people in the United States are not covered by health insurance of any kind; two-thirds of the unprotected are children. At the same time costs for even simple tests and procedures are rising at an alar...
The Medical Marketplace: Who Determines Access to Healthcare?
The question of who decides about access to healthcare in a particular circumstance is a major issue facing this nation. Kidney dialysis was just such an issue before it became a Medicare entitlement. Today patients and doctors find themselves fight...
The Medical Marketplace: Using Eastern and Western Therapeutic Approaches to Healing
Chinese medicine, as practiced by Dr. Ka Kit Hui, uses a systems approach to healthcare. "I'm very interested to solve problems, and I think that different healing traditions have their unique strengths and weaknesses." Dr. Hui has had success combi...
The Medical Marketplace: Primary Care Physician
The insurance plan that is selected often influences the choice of a primary care physician who will provide periodic checkups, suggest preventive strategies, and respond when illness strikes. The primary care doctor recommends specialists when nece...
The Medical Marketplace: Communication Between Doctor and Patient
People sometimes encounter "potholes" in attempting to develop a productive relationship with their physician. The first critical barrier is being able to communicate effectively. It may be helpful to bring a written list of subjects and questions t...
Heart of the Matter: Heart Attack Symptoms for Women Often Differ from Men
Heart attack symptoms for women differ from men. They may not have chest tightness or pain as a warning signal, just indigestion or weakness. Women generally experience heart disease about ten years later than men because estrogen, it is thought, pr...