Author: Lance Garrison
By Bouba Diemé as told to Keri WigintonI started to get coughs and chest pain that seemed to come out of nowhere. Exercise got a lot harder. I was 26 and ran a fitness boot camp, so I was relatively fit. But one day, I couldn’t keep up with the group during a warm-up run.That was 2012, when I found out that I have dilated cardiomyopathy. That means my heart is bigger than normal and doesn’t pump blood very well. That led to advanced congestive heart failure. Later on, my doctor told me my heart condition — left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC)…
We covered a lot of ground together in 2023. In this issue of the newsletter I’ll update you on some topics I wrote about this year. A lot of things didn’t turn out quite as I’d imagined. Some did.Nobody reads this newsletter to get rich by learning what’s about to happen in the economy and markets. For that, you’d want to put your money with Hindsight Capital, the unfortunately nonexistent hedge fund invented by the journalist John Authers that gets every call right by investing in hindsight.Still, I did go out on a limb now and then, prognosticating on topics…
By Steven Schiff, MD, as told to Stephanie BoothMy patients’ concerns about heart failure are usually, “What is my prognosis?” “What are the treatments, like medication and surgery, that are available to me?” But some people will ask me for their ejection fraction (EF) number if they’ve read about it, or had it discussed with them. This is especially true if they want to know if it’s changing over time.What is EF?EF is one of many measurements of how well your heart works. It measures the active pump function of your heart when it contracts and pumps blood out of your heart…
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email transcripts@nytimes.com with anyANNIE questions.Would you rather have your hairline one inch from your eyebrow or your gums start a centimeter from the bottom of your teeth? My name is Annie Rose Strasser, and I’m the executive producer of Opinion Audio, which means that I listen basically all day to other people’s conversations. And I like to think about starting good conversations in my personal life, too.So we are…
By Richard Josephson, MD, as told to Stephanie WatsonBack in the middle of the 20th century, there was a concern that people with cardiovascular disease could hurt themselves if they exercised. People with heart failure used to be confined to their bed for long periods of time. Now we know that exercise, when done safely, doesn’t damage the heart. It can actually protect the heart and lower the chances of future problems.In most people with heart failure, the main symptom is exercise intolerance, which people often describe as fatigue or shortness of breath. You may feel tired, be unable to…
How can it be that nearly three years after Donald Trump incited an insurrection to stay in office, interfering with the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history, he remains eligible for a second term as president? In a stunning ruling on Tuesday night, the Colorado Supreme Court answered that question: He can’t be allowed to run again.The Colorado court’s 133-page decision said that he is not eligible to be on the state’s ballot for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars from public office anyone who swore an oath to the Constitution…
By Michael Balk, MD, as told to John DonovanWhen we talk about heart failure, the first thing I do with people is ask a number of questions about diet and other potential conditions that may cause the heart failure. The most common probably is high blood pressure. Then there’s coronary disease. Diabetes. Some viruses can affect the heart. Obesity probably has a big role. Sleep apnea is super common.We have important data that these comorbidities — conditions that are present with another condition — affect the survival rates of people with heart failure. If you treat the obesity, treat the…
In December of last year, before the unwinding process had begun, one of their aides got a call from her office while she was at the Wells’s house, saying that Ms. Wells’s coverage had been cut off and that the aide was not to bathe or care for Ms. Wells that day — if she did, the company might be forced to drop the family as clients. They lost Ms. Wells’s care for nearly a month; Mr. Wells had to miss doctor appointments for his heart and kidneys, including his monthly catheter replacement, because he didn’t have anyone to stay…
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email transcripts@nytimes.com with any questions.I’m Sophia Rosenfeld. I teach history at the University of Pennsylvania. You’ve probably been hearing that campuses are up in arms surrounding the discussion of the war in Palestine and Israel. That there’s panic and chaos in every direction.In fact, what you’ve been reading isn’t the full story. And I do think that rather than condemn universities as places where the kids can’t get it…
Test how closely you followed the news this holiday season.