Tag Archives: PODCASTS

Heart Disease: A Surgeon’s View Of Aorta Surgery

Cleveland Clinic (MAY 9, 2023): Have you ever wondered what your surgeon thinks about when they are deciding if you need an operation?

Dr. Lars Svensson and Dr. Marijan Koprivanac discuss all things aorta, such as your past medical history, current health, and how your surgeon looks to the future to provide the best options for you.

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Insomnia: Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Help?

May 4, 2023: Difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep is a common problem for many patients. Over-the-counter sleeping aids are used by many and we commonly get asked for prescription medications to help with their sleep.

Unfortunately, the ideal sleeping medication doesn’t exist and many have potentially worrisome adverse effects, some produce daytime somnolence and others may have the potential to produce dependence.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is an alternative treatment option to pharmacologic therapy and is safe, can be easily taught, and offers an alternative to the many with chronic insomnia. In this podcast, we’ll discuss this innovative treatment option with sleep expert, Michael H. Silber, M.B.Ch.B., a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic. 

Inflammation: Frozen Shoulder (BMJ Podcast)

Adhesive capsulitis (Frozen Shoulder) affects 2% to 5% of the population. It is slightly more common in women than in men, and is most common in people between the ages of 40 and 70.

And it can cause a range of problems – including pain, stiffness, and loss of function. So it is important that we get the diagnosis and management of this condition right.

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Circulatory Conditions: Peripheral Artery Disease

April 4, 2023: Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a chronic circulatory condition, which, if not treated, can lead to limb amputations. PAD affects nearly 20 million Americans. An estimated 200,000 people, disproportionately from minority communities, suffer avoidable amputations every year.

What is peripheral artery disease?

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is plaque buildup in your leg arteries. Your leg arteries carry oxygen and nutrient-rich blood from your heart to your arms and legs. Other names for this are peripheral vascular disease or peripheral arterial disease.

Shaped like hollow tubes, arteries have a smooth lining that prevents blood from clotting and promotes steady blood flow. When you have peripheral artery disease, plaque (made of fat, cholesterol and other substances) forms gradually inside your artery walls. Slowly, this narrows your arteries. This plaque is also known as atherosclerosis.

Many plaque deposits are hard on the outside and soft on the inside. The hard surface can crack or tear, allowing platelets (disc-shaped particles in your blood that help it clot) to come to the area. Blood clots can form around the plaque, making your artery even narrower.

If plaque or a blood clot narrows or blocks your arteries, blood can’t get through to nourish organs and other tissues. This causes damage ― and eventually death (gangrene) ― to the tissues below the blockage. This happens most often in your toes and feet.

PAD can get worse faster in some people more than others. Many other factors matter, including where in your body the plaque forms and your overall health.

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