8 votes
Accepted

What is the difference between Eisenmenger syndrome and ventricular septal defect?

Ventricular septal defect A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is a congenital defect of the central wall (septum) of the heart. This septum divides the right ventricle of the heart from the left ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 3,283
7 votes

Aspirin / statin for preventing coronary heart disease in prediabetes?

It is difficult to say, because the matter is controversial and in both cases it is still being investigated. The general rule for any medicine is that the benefits should outweigh the risks. (1) Both ...
Lucky's user avatar
  • 2,833
7 votes

What is the difference between Eisenmenger syndrome and ventricular septal defect?

Eisenmenger syndrome is a clinical syndrome. A ventricular septal defect (VSD) is an anatomic lesion. They are related in that Eisenmenger syndrome can be caused by a VSD (among other things). VSD A ...
De Novo's user avatar
  • 3,188
7 votes
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Is Myocarditis infectious?

Myocarditis itself is not a virus nor is it contagious - the term refers an inflammation of the myocardium (a.k.a. the heart muscle). A viral infection is probably the most common cause of myocarditis ...
motosubatsu's user avatar
  • 1,272
7 votes

How does a prosthetic heart valve "burst"?

There are a number of different heart valve prostheses, and the age and type of the valve in question would make answering the question somewhat easier and more specific. Prosthetic heart valves are ...
Gerry Creager's user avatar
6 votes
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What is the best cooking oil for a person with ischemic heart disease?

To make it simple: There are two types of fat: unsaturated ("good fat") and saturated and trans fat ("bad fat"). Current dietary guidelines (American Heart Association, WHO) suggest that saturated ...
M. Arrowsmith's user avatar
6 votes

Who should take statins for prevention of heart disease and stroke?

I can offer a UK perspective on this, using guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE): Cardiovascular disease: risk assessment and reduction, including lipid ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 3,283
5 votes
Accepted

Can Prediabetes cause coronary heart disease?

I checked myself and found that yes, prediabetes is also a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Prediabetes is the condition when fasting blood sugar is 100-125 mg/dl or 2 hour blood sugar is 140-...
rncardio's user avatar
  • 1,770
5 votes
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What heart conditions cause dizziness after/during exercise?

Dizziness or giddiness during exercise is classically caused by obstruction to the outflow of the heart i.e. aortic stenosis (see MedlinePlus). This condition is most commonly seen in either young ...
rncardio's user avatar
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5 votes
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Is olive leaf extract dangerous for low blood pressure?

First, I should say that I think this question should be closed. It's clearly a request for personal medical advice, but apparently no one else shares that view, so I'll go ahead and answer. I ...
Carey Gregory's user avatar
  • 9,753
5 votes

Why is there not enough research on heart stent and exercise?

Why is there not enough research on heart stent and exercise? There is research of stents and exercise! How much is enough? In fact there are exercise programmes, known as cardiac rehabilitation ...
bertieb's user avatar
  • 701
5 votes
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Why is the crescendo-decrescendo systolic murmur best heard at the cardiac base?

It's not, unless you are using the term "base" to refer to the aortic root of the heart rather than the apex. A systolic "crescendo-decrescendo murmur" is the classic description for the murmur ...
DoctorWhom's user avatar
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5 votes
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Is the number of push-ups a person can do a good risk estimate for heart attacks?

Yes, or at least, that's what this article in a reputable medical journal says and there is no reason to be more skeptical of it than the normal skepticism that any isolated article deserves. The 10 ...
Bryan Krause's user avatar
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5 votes

If high cholesterol does not cause as atherosclerosis? Then what does?

The mentioned paper has been published in BMJ Open in 2015: The Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Mortality in the Elderly. A systematic review. The NHS article mentions the ...
Jan's user avatar
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5 votes

If high cholesterol does not cause as atherosclerosis? Then what does?

The NHS page you linked to does quite a good job of explaining why the study that puts forward the claim that there isn't a link doesn't actually quite say that with any degree of certainty. They are ...
motosubatsu's user avatar
  • 1,272
5 votes
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Difference between strength and hypertrophy?

The difference between the two concepts you are talking about is "physiological" versus "pathological" hypertrophy. Shimizu and Minamino note (2016. PMID 27262674: Cardiac ...
Ian Campbell's user avatar
  • 3,090
4 votes

Do all very old people have heart failure?

Maybe. Depends on the 95-year old... and the 25-year old. A heart failure diagnosis isn't just the process of getting older; it has objective criteria. I expect most 95-year olds would score above ...
Carey Gregory's user avatar
  • 9,753
4 votes

Do all very old people have heart failure?

Can aging of the heart be equivalent to having (mild) heart failure? Absolutely. A large part of aging is the process of telomeres shortening with each cell division, making our DNA more vulnerable. ...
Coma's user avatar
  • 385
4 votes
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Max heart rate questions

Currently, there is no definitive way to predict maximum heart rate for a single individual. There are formulae that can give an approximation, but about the only way to get a good estimate on a ...
JohnP's user avatar
  • 6,660
4 votes

What is the difference between Eisenmenger syndrome and ventricular septal defect?

Apart from information on differences given in two excellent answers here, there is a major difference in treatment of these two conditions. Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) before development of ...
rncardio's user avatar
  • 1,770
4 votes
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Difference between acyanotic and cyanotic

Cyanosis refers to a blue discolouration of the skin caused by hypoxia (inadequate oxygenation of the arterial blood supply). It is the presence or absence of this hypoxia that is actually the ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 3,283
3 votes
Accepted

Can pectus excavatum increase the risk of cardio vascular disease?

This is a very interesting question. Thank you. Just as a small background on pectus excavatum (PE) (also known as "funnel chest"). It is characterised by depression of the sternum that begins over ...
M. Arrowsmith's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

If you are told you're going to have a heart attack in one month, what can you do now to prevent it?

There's very little you could do in terms of lifestyle changes. Quitting smoking, stopping excessive drinking, and stopping the use of stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines are the only things I ...
Carey Gregory's user avatar
  • 9,753
3 votes
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How serious is the risk of second hand smoke?

Unfortunately, you can't make a probabilistic estimate if you will contract heart disease or some form of cancer - there are too many variables to consider. How big is the room? How many people are ...
Coma's user avatar
  • 385
3 votes

Assessing the risk of heart attacks and similar conditions

Following were independent risk factors found in the large Interheart study (http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2804%2917018-9/abstract): 1. Smoking 2. Diabetes 3. High ...
rncardio's user avatar
  • 1,770
3 votes

Coagulation problems in blue babies

I checked and found following coagulation problems may occur in patients with congenital cyanotic heart diseases (commonest example tetralogy of Fallot): Thrombotic episodes may occur due to: ...
rncardio's user avatar
  • 1,770
3 votes

Would it be fair to say heart disease, diabetes (II), and Alzheimer's disease are all the same health issue expressed different ways?

Sure, Alzheimer's is considered by some to be type III diabetes and the pathology induced is a combination of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and elevated glycation products.
Graham Chiu's user avatar
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3 votes

Is the number of push-ups a person can do a good risk estimate for heart attacks?

Limitations of the study:(3) First, the study assessed the association between push-ups and CVD events. The results do not support push-up capacity as an independent predictor of CVD risk.  Second, ...
Physicsapproval's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

Myocardial Ischemic Contractile Failure & Potassium

Your understanding about the mechanism by which the K+ ions leak out of the cardiac cell during ischaemia is correct. But, regarding the latter part, lets discuss what is the situation of K+ ions in a ...
Harshit Shah's user avatar

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