Barry M. Massie, Caring.com Expert
Barry M. Massie is professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and chief of cardiology at the San Francisco V.A. Medical Center. Susan E. Ammon is a nurse practitioner at the San Francisco V.A. Medical Center Heart Failure Clinic.
Recently Published on Caring.com
-
Heart failure is a serious condition -- but it's also one that can be treated with considerable success. I don't like the term "end stage" because many patients i...
-
Can you overcome fatigue from medication? — Nov 18, 2007Many of the medicines that improve heart function and survival in heart failure patients also lower blood pressure. All three of the medicines your mother is taking are oft... -
Is dad's back pain from heart failure medication? — Nov 18, 2007We've never seen back pain due to a diuretic, so it's unlikely that your father's pain is linked to that medication. Patients often attribute new symptoms to their medicati... -
Can exercise improve ejection fraction? — Nov 18, 2007Cardiac rehabilitation may not play a major role in raising your mother-in-law's EF, but it should improve her quality of life and her ability to be active. EF is a helpful... -
Can Coenzyme Q10 raise my mother's ejection fraction? — Nov 18, 2007There have been quite a few studies of CoQ10 and heart failure, but none of the best-designed ones have shown any benefit from this expensive treatment. Unlike CoQ10, many ... -
This is a difficult problem that often causes real conflicts. The best approach would be for the two of you to visit his physician together so that you can discuss what lev... -
Is aspirin necessary to treat heart disease? — Sep 20, 2007Yes. Aspirin may prevent blood clots from forming in the arteries of the heart, the primary cause of heart attacks in patients with coronary heart disease. I recommend taki... -
Angina (chest pain) and heart attacks stem from the same cause -- a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the heart due to narrowed or blocked blood vessels. The difference lies... -
How can I convince Dad to stop smoking? — Sep 19, 2007It's very unlikely that your father doesn't know he shouldn't be smoking, and it rarely helps to nag. Ideally, someone other than a family member, such as his physician or ... -
Is Discomfort After Angioplasty Normal? — Sep 19, 2007It's not unusual to have brief episodes of chest pain in the first few hours after an angioplasty, but any sustained or recurrent chest pain, pressure, or discomfort should... -
It's not uncommon, but that doesn't mean it's nothing to be concerned about. Your mother's symptoms should be reported to her physician immediately. The most common cause o... -
What is giving my father more frequent heart palpitations? — Sep 19, 2007There are a number of possible causes. Sometimes palpitations (feeling the heartbeat) are the result of anxiety and have nothing to do with a heart abnormality. Palpitation... -
Can bypass surgery change a personality? — Sep 18, 2007Heart surgery -- or even receiving a diagnosis of heart disease -- can change someone's personality, pretty much like any psychological trauma. Sometimes there can be chang...
