Complicit Corazón
When all was said and done, we asked, “What happened?” He had stood at a window, with a sparkle in his eyes. A few days later, he lay limp on a marble slab. It was that fast! My father was gone. If the body is, indeed, the house of the soul, we had seen its façade decay as the life force within had dissipated. Occupancy had yielded to a “For Sale” sign in quotidian’s obituary, as guilty consciences booked pilgrimages of last respect.Questions of morality and philosophy aside, what are these things called “heart failure” and “organ shutdown,” that bring both Popes and plebiscite to their knees? For its part, heart failure represents a major public health problem in industrialized nations. It appears to be the only common cardiovascular condition that is increasing in prevalence and incidence. In the United States, it is responsible for almost 1 million hospital admissions and 40,000 deaths annually. Since heart failure is more common in the elderly, its prevalence is likely to continue its upward spiral as the population ages. How many more looking-glass gazers must fall before we silence the beast?
© 2005, Albert M. Balesh, M.D. All rights reserved.
posted by Dr. Al at
7/21/2006 12:29:00 PM
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