ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN CARDIOLOGY I wrote a post back on June 16, 2023, titled Can Your Doc Be Replaced by AI? In it, Anthony L. Kormaroff, MD, Editor in Chief of the Harvard Health Letter was asked if artificial intelligence will replace doctors? He answered, “Not in my lifetime, fortunately.” Your doc will certainly stay in business. Nevertheless, he or she will become much more dependent on AI for disease detection. The biggest example is perhaps that A.I. tools are now holding promise in uncovering serious heart problems much sooner than in the past. The cardiology team at the...
GOT WATER? Today, I began to read an article in the latest Harvard Medical School Health Letter that offered some surprising information: the old recommendation of drinking 8 cups of water a day is not sufficient. Instead, we should aim for about 11 cups per day for women and 15 cups per day for men. My initial reaction was that this is significantly more than I currently consume. However, after reading the entire article, I realized I might not be falling as short as I thought. Here are excerpts from the July 1, 2024 post by Heidi Godman, Executive Editor,...
BEAT THE HEAT Back in December and January, I’d wait until the warmest part of the day—usually mid afternoon—to go jogging. But now that summer is here, I jog early in the morning to beat the heat. I thought I knew all the necessary precautions for running (or in my case, jogging) in the heat, but I realized I didn’t. I recently came across an online article in Runner’s World by Jennifer Van Allen, updated on April 25, 2024, titled Everything to Know About Running in the Heat, which provided several new-to-me tips on preventing common heat-related ailments. (I think...
A PARADOXICAL KIND OF INSOMNIA Despite feeling like I hadn’t slept for much of last night, my Fitbit tracker indicated I’d actually gotten about seven hours of sleep. Thankfully, this discrepancy doesn’t occur often—perhaps once a month. I’ve since learned that this phenomenon is known as paradoxical insomnia. A recent write-up in Scientific American’s online Today in Science, titled “Up All Night,” published on June 10, 2024, discusses this condition. Here are some highlights from that short article: People with paradoxical insomnia (also called subjective insomnia) report that they’ve been awake all night, even when the polysomnography, the gold standard for...
SALMONELLA: THE ALL-TOO-COMMON FOOD POISONING It seems like every month brings news of another salmonella outbreak. This month, it was fresh cucumbers; last month, backyard poultry; in April, organic basil; and in March, charcuterie meats. The list of culprits for this all-too-common food poisoning goes on. I’ve come down with it several times while traveling abroad—from ceviche in Mexico, ground beef in Morocco, and lettuce in India. However, many people contract it right in their American hometown. (You may have experienced a salmonella infection without realizing it, as some cases are asymptomatic.) I wanted to learn more about this common...
COLD WATER SWIMMING? A few days ago I received the latest issue of Scientific American and read an article which claimed that cold water swimming is surging in popularity. And today, I found a couple more accounts in which cold water swimming adherents maintain it can act as an anti-depressant and might help forestall dementia. Okay, that grabbed my interest—I’m ready to try almost anything that might work against dementia! Even though I usually wear a wet suit, I can’t say I ever got a kick out of cold water swimming. When I was a bit younger and entered triathlons...
3 SIMPLE EXERCISES TO STRENGTHEN YOUR LEGS FOR SUMMER FUN Remember that ancient song: “In The Good Old Summertime.”? Well, those summer days are almost here! It’s time to leave the gym where you’ve been working out the past few months and move your activities outdoors! It’s the season for hiking, swimming in oceans or lakes, long bike rides, and running or jogging on scenic trails rather than monotonous treadmills. To enjoy these activities, you’ll need to keep your legs in good shape. I recently came across a Harvard Medical School Health Letter that covers the basics of which muscle...
PREPARE FOR HEALTHY TRAVELS We’re going on a two-week international vacation in August. When we booked our flights and accommodations back in December, it felt like the trip was far off in the future. But now, it seems to be approaching quickly. Today, I looked into visas and then started thinking about what else I should be checking on for healthy travels. Luckily, I found an online article from the Mayo Clinic that outlines everything. If you’re planning a trip to distant places soon or are still in the planning stages, you might find these excerpts from the article, Health...
FOR AN EASY FULL-BODY WORKOUT, TRY NORDIC WALKING Back when I lived near Lake Tahoe, I skied cross country trails all winter long. But that was years ago and I’ve hardly skied since. However, today I came across an article extolling the benefits of Nordic walking—or walking with poles. This exercise turns a basic walk into a full body workout by mimicking movements used by cross-country skiers; hence the poles. With a bit of research, I found that you can’t use regular walking sticks. You’ll need poles with wrist straps and pointed tips for trails or with blunted rubber ends...
WHAT IS SLOW RUNNING? Lately, I’m seeing online articles promoting the rewards of “slow running.” I think I’d be classified as a slow runner, not by choice, but because my running pace has slowed down considerably as I’ve aged. At 80, I don’t even classify myself as a runner anymore—but as more of a jogger. Yet, some days I go on an all-out jog and others I just enjoy moving along. I can see the difference afterward when I check it out on my Fitbit. When I go for a faster time I’ve spent the majority of my jog at...
