Health Notes

Those who have drug coated stents may need to continue taking anti-clotting drugs like Plavix and aspirin.

Congestive heart failure is serious. You should see a doctor right away if you have: Chronic coughing or wheezing, Fatigue or weakness, Shortness of breath, especially when at rest, Increased heart rate, regardless of current activity.

It is possible that patients who have coronary bypass surgery and carotid endarterectomy at the same time have a significantly greater risk of death or stroke than those who have the two operations separately. The fact that combining the two operations has been carried out for years, on thousands of patients, does not greatly increase my confidence in doctors.

In that same vein, using the anesthetic isoflurane could possibly have serious consequences, including “the death of brain cells and the production of amyloid-beta plaque.” Doctors have been using this drug “for years for all ages of patients.” Feeling better yet?

FYI, undergoing chemotherapy may adversely affect bone health.

Here’s a new tomato that contains some of the same healthy anthocyanins as red wine, and apparently it was bred, not genetically engineered.

Divorced, widowed or remarried women may be more likely to develop heart disease than women who have been married continuously.

Those with kidney disease may be at greater risk of developing peripheral artery disease.

Does having low cholesterol increase your chance of getting Parkinson’s disease? Does that have implications for cholesterol-lowering statins?

The leukemia drug Glivec may help against prostate cancer.

Can bacteria cause stomach cancer? Can antibiotics help?

Taking calcium may reduce you risk of getting colon cancer.

Here’s more discussion of omega-3 fatty acids.