A jolt of pain wrenched him from sleep: Cardiac rehab

Last February, a jolt of pain wrenched him from sleep. It was a heart attack. Ninety minutes later, he was at Massachusetts General Hospital, where doctors cleared a potentially lethal clog from one of his heart arteries.

Then they told Arthur Manjourides, 66, it was time to change his life. They gave him prescriptions for both pills and cardiac rehabilitation. Now he's 55 pounds lighter, and has lower cholesterol – and fewer hours at work.

"I wanted to get better. I wanted to get healthy. I would rather not be alive than have to be crippled by not doing things," he said.

A study in the October issue of Circulation by Dr. William Stason and others said few older survivors of heart attacks (14%) and few heart surgery patients (31%) enter cardiac rehab, though many more would benefit from it. Bypass surgery and artery-clearing procedures don't actually cure patients; they only address the most pressing symptoms of heart disease. Lifestyle changes and medications fix the underlying problems.

Advice to advocates for heart attack and heart surgery patients: Ask the doctor whether cardiac rehab would help.

Browse for related stories in the index at the very bottom of this page, or read a heart story.

Thanks to Stephen Smith for the source article in today's Boston Globe.

My annual physical was a lifesaver

David Evett's letter to the editor:

Stephen Smith's article: "The annual physical gets a checkup" (Health/Science, Oct. 22) questions the value of the yearly visit to the doctor. I am an active, energetic 71-year-old. Between Christmas and New Year’s 2005-2006, I had a mild case of pneumonia, which yielded promptly to antibiotics. When I went in for my annual checkup the following April, I seemed to be in excellent general health. My conscientious doctor, however, ordered a chest X-ray to see whether the pulmonary infection had done any permanent damage. This was not an official follow-up: had I not come in for the exam, he would not have ordered the X-ray. It revealed no ill effects from the pneumonia. The alert radiologist, however, noticed a suspicious shadow in the other lung. It was cancer. Early detection meant early surgery and the strong likelihood that it would not recur. I need hardly say that I am glad – as are my family, friends, and professional associates – that I schedule that exam every spring.

Advice to elderly pneumonia survivors: Pneumonia can be dangerous for older people, so make sure the doctor follows up to ensure the infection has completely cleared up.

Read another prevention story.

ALS Advocate Avi Kremer Wins Award

Avi Kremer, the Harvard Business School graduate who is using his management skills to battle his dread disease, received a top prize from the ALS Association last week.

Avi received the Lawrence A. Rand Prize for "raising awareness about the disease as well as millions of dollars for research in Israel and the U.S." Avi, age 32, was diagnosed with the condition, also called Lou Gehrig’s Disease, during his first semester at Harvard.

Advice: Appreciate Avi’s courage.

Read our earlier blog post on Avi.

Source: Stephen Smith’s article in the July 23 Boston Globe.

She can still recall the day: Lyme Disease misdiagnosis

Diane Blanchard can still recall the day 20 years ago when a tick attached itself to the nape of her neck while she was gardening on Long Island, outside of New York City. She never had the characteristic bull’s-eye rash of Lyme Disease, and her diagnosed was delayed until the next year. Her doctor prescribed a three-week course of antibiotics.

But her symptoms persisted for ten years, until she learned she had a lingering form of the disease. Nine years of on and off treatment with antibiotics followed.

"None of us want to take antibiotics, but if it is the only remedy that is offered at this moment that gives us relief, that allows us to function, then we’re stuck," she said. "We wish we could find a cure. Until we do, we must remain open-minded."

Now she is the co-president of Time for Lyme, an advocacy group.

Advice: Spray your ankles with DEET bug spray before going into the woods, and check yourself afterwards.

Read another of our Lyme Disease stories, or read Stephen Smith’s source story in today’s Boston Globe.