by Dr. Gabe Mirkin | Nov 30, 2019 | Heart Health
Since heart attacks are usually caused by plaques breaking off from the inner linings of arteries leading to the heart, doctors use a test called Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CAC) to predict which people have the largest plaques and therefore are at high risk for...
by Dr. Gabe Mirkin | Nov 24, 2019 | Heart Health
The $100 million ISCHEMIA Trial, the largest and best-controlled study on the subject to date, was presented at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific conference on November 16, 2019 in Philadelphia. It followed 5,179 high-risk patients and showed that...
by Dr. Gabe Mirkin | Nov 7, 2019 | Heart Health
A study from Ireland shows that many people at low risk for heart attacks who take statin drugs gain little benefit, and may be wasting healthcare resources (BMJ, Oct 16, 2019;367:l5674.) The European guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention would put 61...
by Dr. Gabe Mirkin | Oct 7, 2019 | Heart Health
An analysis of 7,743 people suffering from osteoarthritis found that those who took NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) were at 41 percent increased risk for suffering heart attacks, heart failure and strokes, compared to arthritis patients who did not take...
by Dr. Gabe Mirkin | Sep 7, 2019 | Heart Health
At last we have a reasonable explanation why statins can cause some people to suffer skeletal muscle pain and damage, but do not cause heart muscle damage (JACC: Basic to Translational Science, Aug 2019;4(4):509-523). Muscles contract after they release calcium from...
by Dr. Gabe Mirkin | Aug 2, 2019 | Heart Health
Two to three million years ago, our pre-human ancestors had a single genetic mutation in their CMAH gene that protected them from a deadly form of malaria but set them up for risk for heart attacks that increases when they eat a lot of meat from any kind of mammal...
