Wow! Who would have thought so many people were so passionately interested in cholesterol-lowering drugs? I guess it’s understandable that the newly promulgated guidelines have stirred so much controversy, but I’d like to separate the facts from the fears. Let’s start with what’s really new about these new guidelines. As accurately noted in the first Read more
Heart disease
There are frequent studies and reports citing the health differences between Latinos and the rest of the U.S. population. When it comes to cardiology, the question is: How different is the heart of a Latino? The truth is that no one really knows. As a Latino myself and after 20 years of practicing cardiology, I Read more
Congestive heart failure (CHF) doesn’t receive the same attention that cancer does, but it’s a major chronic illness in the U.S., affecting more than five million patients. CHF refers to a condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. According to government statistics, about 550,000 new cases are diagnosed annually Read more
Once you get that call, everything changes. There’s the day you’re having before you hear that your team has accepted a heart for your patient on the pediatric cardiac transplant list, and then there’s the day after. Actually, it is more like the night after. Heart transplants almost always occur at night. Hospitals are not Read more
A lot of time and money was just spent on Mother’s Day. The yearly ritual of “mom fever” means picking out fancy presents such as exotic flower arrangements, sparkling gemstones or free passes to a trendy spa. But the sad truth for many women I see as patients is that material gifts are often what Read more
Ever since the FDA announced plans to place new warning labels on cholesterol-lowering statins last week due to complaints of memory loss and evidence of diabetes, it seems the phone lines of primary care physicians and cardiologists have lit up. Mario Garcia, M.D., the chief of cardiology at Montefiore Medical Center and professor of medicine Read more
