Positive coping after a heart event

September 2, 2018 Andrew To

Clouds above the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Living with a heart condition can sometimes be worrying and distressing. It can take some time to adjust to what has happened. Everyone’s experience is a very personal one, and we all cope in different ways. However, sometimes individuals can feel overwhelmed and can benefit from professional help to cope and develop strategies to deal with these stresses.

Common feelings after a heart event:

Shocked… Angry… Sad… Relieved… Lucky… Worried… Frightened… loss of control… Motivated… On edge… Helpless…

Physical activity and urban environment

August 6, 2018 Andrew To

The Struggle 2017; Patricia Piccinini @ Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Aug 2018

Physical activity is one of the most important determinants of our cardiovascular risk, and not being active is responsible for more than 5 million deaths per year worldwide.

Professor Sallis from the University of California, San Diego, published an interesting article in the Lancet in 2016 outlining the importance of our neighbourhoods with different levels of walkability in influencing the amount of physical activity of the people living in those neighbourhoods.

Are cardiologists obsessed with statins?

September 4, 2016 Andrew To

Cardiologists know of the beneficial effect of statins, the main class of medications to lower cholesterol and prevent heart attacks. Much of the evidence has been from randomized controlled trials over the last 10-20 years, where patients treated with statins were less likely to have a heart attack compared with those who were not.