Cardiologists and Sneakers

Cardiologists are the medical specialists that deal with cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease. Fortunately, cardiovascular problems frequently give the patient and doctor ample advance warning: high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, or both.

Since I have high blood pressure, and have had trouble keeping it under control, in the fall of 1997 I went to a cardiologist at the world-famous Texas Heart Institute in Houston; I live in the area, and it's the case that "the best costs no more." (However, they may order more tests.) Knowing the propensity of the medical profession to need to look and poke "here, there, and everywhere," I wore clothing easy to take off: a T-shirt, sweat pants, and sneakers.

My cardiologist quickly noticed that I was wearing one of my favorite pairs of high-top sneakers; the very ones pictured on this Web page. One of the really bad signs in a patient with any kind of heart trouble is swollen ankles, an indication of impaired blood circulation in the legs. Since the high-tops were putting the squeeze on my ankles, we had to take them off and wait a while to see if my ankles would get puffy. (They didn't.)

The moral of the story: Wear a pair of low-top sneakers to see the cardiologist. Give your ankles a chance to get nice and puffy before they see the doctor! By the way: sneaker height doesn't seem to matter to the otorhinolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor) if you want to go discuss CPAP.

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Last Updated: 29 March 2008 22:59

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