Dr. Chizner's Health blog

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Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Stethoscope? In a voluntary study of 1,100 cardiologists, participants were able to recognize fewer than half of basic murmurs and only two-thirds of advanced murmurs. How confident are you in your cardiac auscultation skills? Heart Songs 4 provides you with everything you need to effortlessly improve your cardiac auscultation skills! Simply watch/listen to each high definition video within Heart Songs 2 to 4 times to master each murmur. The videos include descriptions of each murmur, images of phonocardiograms, CT scans and color Doppler echos, intermixed with 200 repetitions of each murmur. Interactive quizzes let you measure your baseline skill and your level of improvement. And best of all, once you’ve mastered a sound, it will be reinforced every time you hear it in a patient. After only 90 minutes using Heart Songs,the study participants nearly doubled their score on the basic murmurs and saw a 30% score improvement for advanced murmurs. The stethoscope is as important today as it was 200 years ago. Do you know what yours is telling you? With Heart Songs 4, you will. References 1. Barrett MJ, Lacey CS, Sekara AE, Linden EA, Gracely EJ. Mastering cardiac murmurs: the power of repetition. Chest 2004;126:470-5. 2. Barrett MJ, Kuzma MA, Seto TC, et al. The power of repetition in mastering cardiac auscultation. Amer J Med 2006;119:73-5. 3. Barrett MJ, Martinez MW, Scott M, O’Gara PT. How accurate are cardiologists at detecting aortic and mitral murmurs? A reality check on auscultation skills in the era of transcatheter interventions. Eur Heart J 2015;36;792. 4. Chizner MA. Cardiac auscultation: rediscovering the lost art. Curr Probl Cardiol. 2008;33:326-408.

Some risks you can’t change: There are a few risks you can’t do much about: • Age: As you get older, your risk of heart disease increases. • Gender: Men are at higher risk of heart disease. Women’s risk grows and may be equal to men after menopause. • Ethnic background: People of some origins (e.g. from the Indian sub-continent) have higher risk. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have more risk because of lifestyle factors. • Family history: If someone in your family has had a heart attack, speak to your doctor or health practitioner about your risk. Risks you can change Most heart disease risk factors can be changed, and there’s plenty you can do about them. Smoking  Being smoke free is one of the best ways to protect your heart. If you are a smoker, you should stop. High cholesterol An imbalance of cholesterol in your blood can lead to a heart attack or stroke.  High blood pressure Blood pressure isn’t usually something you can feel. If it’s too high, it needs to be treated. Diabetes It’s important to manage your diabetes to help prevent a heart attack or stroke. Being inactive Not getting enough physical activity and sitting too much isn’t good for your heart health. Being overweight Being overweight or obese increases your risk of heart disease and other health problems. The best thing you can do is to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Unhealthy diet Eating a varied diet of healthy foods can help with your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. Depression, social isolation and lack of quality support We know that there can be a greater risk of heart disease for people who have depression, are socially isolated or do not have good social support. Having a good social life with family and friends can help. Depression is more than feeling sad or low. If you feel depressed for more than two weeks, talk to your doctor, a family member or someone you know well.