Earlobe Crease Associated with Heart Attacks

Check out the Earlobe Crease in this bust of Roman Emperor Hadrian It is a factoid that all medical students memorize and is even tested on exams... at least I remember doing so sometime during my first 2 years of medical school. This findings is also known as "Frank's Sign" named after Dr. Sanders Frank based on a paper he authored in 1973 . This risk of heart attack associated with a diagonal earlobe crease has reported numerous times over the years.  In a 1989 study of 3…

7/14/2015 0

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Ibuprofen (and Other NSAIDS) Increases Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

It seems that the longer we study a particular medication on larger numbers of people, the more risks we find associated with taking it. The FDA on 7/9/15 reported that NSAID medications like ibuprofen (but NOT aspirin) significantly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. This risk of heart attack and stroke with NSAIDs, either of which can lead to death, was first published in 2005. However, this warning will now be strengthened with the following statements: The risk of heart …

7/10/2015 0

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Reflux Medications Linked to Heart Attacks: Not as Bad as You Think

In June 2015, media reported a link between heart attacks and taking a certain class of reflux medications known as proton pump inhibitors (PPI). Such medications include nexium , prilosec , prevacid , etc and are very common to treat heartburn. This reported link was due to a paper published in PLOS One which you can read here . How high is the risk? The research suggested an increased risk of 16%. Although this may sound high, this translates into one heart attack for every 4000 patient…

7/01/2015 0

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Snoring is Bad for the Heart? Not so fast...

This past week, media has both aired and published a story regarding new research that suggests snoring WITHOUT obstructive sleep apnea may lead to potential increased risk of heart disease as well as stroke. Apparently, researchers in Michigan examined the data of 913 patients between the ages of 18 and 50 who had undergone a sleep study between 2006 and 2012. None had been diagnosed with sleep apnea , but did have significant snoring . These patients underwent an ultrasound that mea…

1/27/2013 1

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Allergies May Prevent Heart Attacks???

Research has been published suggesting an inverse relationship between serum IgE and heart attacks in the US population independent of coronary risk factors. No kidding... This conclusion was reached based analyzing 4002 participants between 2005-2006. They also detected that of the 7 "data-driven, prespecified allergen clusters," house dust mite was the only allergen cluster for which serum IgE is associated with reduced risk for heart attack. For those wondering, serum IgE…

8/29/2012 0

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Loud Noises Can Cause Heart Problems (Not Just Hearing Loss)!

According to a new study , people who work in noisy places for at least a year and a half could have triple the risk of a serious heart problem including a heart attack and severe chest pain compared to those who work in quiet environments. Of course, we all know such loud environment can also cause hearing loss . 6,000 people who were at least 20 years old and employed were surveyed from 1999 to 2004. Other heart risk factors including elevated Body Mass Index and smoking were statisticall…

10/06/2010 0

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