“I didn’t take it seriously,” admits Donnie Lord. “I thought, ‘that’s something I can deal with later.’” At 46 years old, Donnie thought he had more time to address his deteriorating health. “I was pretty unhealthy. I was overweight, out of shape. I smoked for 20 years – you name it.” The intersection of letting healthy living go by the wayside and a strong family history of diabetes and heart disease met Donnie head on in November of 2014. “I started having pressure in my chest that didn’t go away.” Donnie headed to the Emergency Department at Bailey Medical Center in Owasso, OK. Medical... Read More »
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Three years ago we posed the question: “Can we wipe out heart attacks?” on our blog and made a case why the answer could be “yes.” At the time, we were learning more about the impact of the Dallas Heart Study on genetics and coronary atherosclerosis. Researchers determined from a pool of more than 6,000 people, that if you have very low LDL (bad cholesterol), you are unlikely to develop cardiovascular heart disease. Bottom line – 80 to 90 percent of all heart attacks could be eliminated (wiped out) altogether. Furthermore, what fueled this discovery – the existence of a gene mutation... Read More »
While it may seem like there are new drugs coming on the market all of the time, that is not the case with the class of drugs for the treatment of heart failure. In fact, the last time the FDA approved a heart failure drug was in 2005. However, cardiologists now have a new reason to get excited about the treatment of heart failure patients with the FDA-approval of LCZ696, also known as Entresto, last month.
After disappointing results from previous drugs in development, Entresto demonstrated reduced heart failure deaths and reduced hospitalizations due to heart failure in the... Read More »
Saturday, August 8, 2015, Edith Ellis celebrated her 104th birthday. She is the oldest patient of cardiologist Dr. Arash Karnama and one of the oldest patients at Oklahoma Heart Institute. Those are distinctions that don’t seem to get to Edith, however. In fact, she wears them with pride. She’s quick to recall the time she was recognized by an Oklahoma City publication for being the oldest realtor in the state at the age of 98. She beat out the next oldest by only a few months.
The dawn of her 80-year career actually began in health care. “When I graduated from high school, in... Read More »
Oklahoma Heart Institute cardiologist Dr. Mathew Good’s wife Bethany joins us on the blog to share tips for helping you and your family improve your nutrition through clean eating. The Goods have shared their motivation for cleaning up their diets and now share tips for getting started, recipes and a grocery list.
Two-and-a-half years ago we “went clean” and drastically changed our eating habits. Meal planning and yes, even snack planning, became crucial to our new lifestyle. We had always heard of the concept of “clean eating,” but honestly it just kind of ran together in our minds... Read More »
Even if you are not one of the estimated 60 million Americans affected by chronic sleeplessness, it is likely you have experienced times in your life when sleep was disrupted (or short-term insomnia.) Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders. For those who suffer, they have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or both. That means rarely having the opportunity for truly adequate sleep. Insomnia sufferers wake feeling tired and begin the cycle all over again the next night. Chronic insomnia takes a toll on personal relationships, work performance and most of all, health.
... Read More »
One death every four minutes. The leading cause of disability in our country. A disease that can strike at any age. Stroke affects nearly 800,000 Americans every year, yet we are making a difference when it comes to saving lives. Over the last several decades, stroke has claimed fewer Americans - the death rate from stroke dropping 21 percent over the last 10 years alone. Stroke has slid from third to fourth among the leading causes of death in the U.S. Health care experts credit several factors - many within your control - for its continued decline. Are you doing all you can to prevent a... Read More »
Are you suffering from heart disease or have recently had heart surgery and want to live a healthier lifestyle? Exercise is the best course of action to take to keep your particular condition in control. Exercise is something than many Americans do not partake in, and it is estimated that 45% of Americans have ideal physical activity and 31% have noted that they have poor physical activity. As a heart patient, you will want to partake in regular exercise to maintain your health.
Frequent aerobic exercise can result in moderate to large losses in body weight and body fat, and... Read More »
Heart and vascular disease often go hand-in-hand with diabetes. Anyone living with diabetes is at a much greater risk for suffering from heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure. Another vascular problem due to diabetes includes poor circulation to the legs and feet. Unfortunately, many of these cardiovascular problems can start early in life and may go undetected and untreated for years, increasing the risk of a major cardiovascular event.
Silent heart disease in young people with diabetes
Serious cardiovascular disease can begin before the age of 30 in people with both Type 1 and... Read More »
Oklahoma Heart Institute cardiologist Dr. Mathew Good and wife, Bethany, join us on the blog to share their tips for better nutrition for the entire family.
For many people the idea of eating healthy sounds completely boring. Images of tiny portions of tofu and steamed, slimy kale parade through their minds. For others, the idea just seems overwhelming. Planning meals, researching recipes, grocery shopping, balancing nutrients, counting calories - it can all get downright intimidating.
Perhaps you are one of these people. Or perhaps your doctor has suggested that you start... Read More »