Q-wave vs non-Q-wave myocardial infarction: an oversimplified dichotomy
Article Abstract:
Specifying a heart attack as Q-wave or non-q-wave may have little effect on a patient's prognosis. A Q-wave heart attack exhibits Q waves on an electrocardiogram, while a non-Q-wave heart attack does not. The absence of a Q-wave represents less damage to the tissues of the heart than the presence of a Q-wave. Non-Q wave heart attacks include a number of different types of heart attacks, and these can often be diagnosed using heart muscle enzyme analysis. The use of Q-waves to categorize patients who have suffered a heart attack is sometimes questioned. Some studies have shown that patients who have a non-Q-wave heart attack are more likely to have a second heart attack, but other studies have failed to confirm this. Both patients who have had a Q-wave heart attack and those who have had a non-Q-wave heart attack benefit from treatment with beta-blocker drugs and aspirin.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Living alone after myocardial infarction: impact on prognosis
Article Abstract:
A follow-up of 1,234 people who had suffered a heart attack found that those who lived alone were more likely to have a second heart attack or cardiac arrest than those who lived with others. The patients were enrolled in the placebo arm of a study of the effectiveness of diltiazem in patients who have had a heart attack. At six months, 15.8% of the patients living alone had a recurrent heart attack or cardiac arrest, compared to 8.8% of the patients living with others. This risk was not related to a disrupted marriage, since recurrent heart attack or cardiac arrest was much lower in separated or divorced people living with someone than in separated or divorced people living alone.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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Overcoming the false dichotomy of curative vs palliative care for late-stage HIV/AIDS: "let me live the way I want to live, until I can't"
Article Abstract:
The challenges of treating patients with advanced HIV infection and AIDS are described, based on the case of a 33-year-old patient who was diagnosed in 1992. His doctors believe he may not have complied with his drug treatment because he has a low CD count and a high viral load and is very ill. Some of the drugs had such severe side effects he had to stop taking them.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 2003
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