Mobile Digital Health

A full physical exam and screening for heart risk are a necessary step prior to medicating a hyperactive child with a stimulant drug, but an electrocardiogram is not a must according to The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Heart Association (AHA). The AHA has taken a step back from their earlier recommendation in April where they advocated taking an ECG as an essential measure before embarking on stimulant therapy.

Research has shown that while stimulants used to treat ADHD are known to raise blood pressure and heart rate, serious heart complications appear rare in kids who take the drugs. Undergoing an ECG would be reasonable but in some cases the ECG might result in false-positive readings, indicating heart risk where there is none.

~ by Damion Drilla

Dementia isn’t all about aging, studies show. Health in mid-life can have a marked effect on cognitive ability later on.

A British study of 10,308 people, mostly men, followed the subjects from roughly the ages of 35-55 (the study started in 1985) to about 60-75 years (the study ended in 2004).

Coronary heart disease in midlife was found to be linked to lower cognition in later years. In men, heart disease was linked to lower reason, vocabulary, and MMSE scores. In women, it corresponded additionally to lower phonemic and semantic fluency.

The longer the heart disease – meaning, the earlier it was contracted – the greater the drop in cognitive ability over the years. This suggests that heart disease creates an ongoing condition that continuously deteriorates mental function until dementia kicks in.

EKG – Electrocardiogram. Blame the ‘k’ on the Germans who coined the word first.

An EKG is an electrical test used to diagnose many heart conditions.

It’s a noninvasive test in which the patient lies flat on a table and has several electrodes attached to his or her extremities and chest. A bit of gel is applied to ensure complete surface contact between the electrodes and the body.

The heart pumps because of electrical pulses that originate in the sinoatrial node and travel through the heart, contracting it. The electrodes can sense the pulse. The different electrodes are placed in different locations around the heart to sense electrical activity in different sections of the heart.

The EKG produces a graph of the patient’s heart rhythm, which can be compared to a normal heart rhythm to detect weaknesses and abnormalities. It can measure heart rate, the orientation of the heart in the chest, sense if the heart muscle is thickening, sense damage to the heart, find evidence of impaired bloodflow to the heart, or sense abnormal electrical activity. Inflammation of the heart, irregular blood electrolytes, heart murmurs, and any adverse effects from heart or lung illnesses are others of the many conditions the EKG can diagnose. Any of the above could lead to cardiovascular illness, heart disease, or hypertension.

The EKG can sense if a heart attack has occurred, or if one is likely to occur, making it an essential diagnostic tool for those at risk of heart problems.

While EKG is rarely a time-critical test, scheduling and administering one is often a hassle, especially for care facilities such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and old age homes. For cardiologists, for whom a private facility is not an option, often have to wait an inconvenient amount of time to find out if their prognosis was correct.

Mobile DH changes that by bringing the EKG to the patient’s bedside or the doctor’s office. Instead of going through the paperwork and red tape to transport the patient to an EKG facility, just give Mobile DH a ring and have the EKG (ECG) brought to you.