Last Sunday at 7 PM, Allen Haywood was standing in front of a column reading a book at the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station in Washington, DC waiting for his train like he has done every week for 25 years when a group of ten to 12 teens came up behind...

Skyrocketing unemployment rates, economic hardship, terrorism, extremely partisan politics, distasteful reality shows and dire forecasts for the country can leave anyone with a "bah humbug" taste in their mouths this holiday season.

To add a bit of salt to the wound, a recent study published by Harvard Medical...

There's bad news for women and their loved ones. If you're a woman having the most serious type of heart attack and you get to the hospital, you're less likely than a man to receive proper treatment and less likely to survive.

The American Heart Association has established guidelines for...

Nothing new to many of us heart patients, but the American Heart Association just released a statement that heart patients should be screened for depression and treated if necessary. Studies have shown for years that depression is three times more likely in a patient post heart attack than in the...

Who will be the Obama family's new "best friend?" In a recent interview, president-elect Obama said in a joking manner, "This is a major issue. And we have 2 criteria that have to be reconciled." One is that the dog be hypoallergenic because Malia (Obama's 10 year old daughter) is...

After having such a very sad couple of weeks, there's nothing like surrounding yourself with good food, friends and family. One delectable super food that is good for our overall health including our hearts is dark chocolate or more specifically cocoa and bittersweet chocolate (which must contain at least...

Several years ago Richard Dreyfus starred in a wonderful movie named Mr. Holland's Opus, a story about a high school music teacher who is forced to retire and focuses on how little he thinks he accomplished in his life. As he cleans out his classroom and begins to leave the...

The good news is that the data recently released from the National Center for Health Statistics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that death rates from heart disease and stroke in the USA have dropped significantly and surpassed the prevention goals for the American Heart Association for 2010....

A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that suicide rates have increased to their highest level in at least 25 years among people aged 45-54. And women had the highest rates of suicide in this age group. The study doesn't explain why there is...

Social isolation is becoming more prevalent in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. And during the holidays, feelings of loneliness, isolation, and depression can be magnified.

A recent study by McPherson et al showed that Americans have one-third fewer friends than they did twenty years ago....

Over the past six years there have been absolute changes in the country around the issue of women and heart disease. The great news is groups such as WomenHeart, the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has made strides in improving awareness. About 57 percent...

According to the National Mental Health Association, at any given time in the U.S. there are 54 million Americans suffering with a mental health concern. But only eight million people seek treatment.

As a psychotherapist, these statistics alarm me. But they also alarm me as a bypass survivor and...

Because heart disease affects so many people, one may think that we as a nation have put the time and resources into figuring out how to reduce its devastating impact. There is, however, an element of flying blind when it comes to women and heart disease.

Women's heart disease...

Congress is currently considering proposals that could penalize doctors who practice personalized care or use the most advanced medical technology. To me, this is misguided, harmful, and very, very personal.

Four years ago, I was a healthy, 41-year-old, avid athlete who intensely enjoyed the challenges of...

Cardiovascular diseases kill more women each year than the next five causes of death combined, according to the American Heart Association.

I could've been one of those women.

Five years ago, I was a 41-year-old avid athlete who had no idea women my age could get heart disease....