Joud Dib M.D.

Lupus is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that attacks the body’s healthy cells, tissues, and organs. The inflammation can damage the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, and blood vessels.Normally, the body’s immune system produces antibodies. These antibodies protect and fight...

Emergency situations with high blood pressure, called hypertensive crisis, are common when blood pressure is very high. This is a serious situation, as it may lead to organ damage. If the increase in blood pressure is not too high to cause any problems to any of the organs it is referred to as...

What is creatine phosphokinase (CPK)?Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) is an enzyme, which is predominantly present in the heart, brain, and skeletal muscles. Converting creatine into phosphate is the main task of this enzyme. The cells of the body then quickly consume or burn this phosphate and use it...

What Is Left-Sided Congestive Heart Failure?Heart failure means your heart is not able to work as well as it once did.Left-sided congestive failure is a critical condition in which the left side of the heart doesn’t pump blood efficiently. It is unable to meet the body’s metabolic needs,...

Results of a study presented in the Experimental Biology 2012 meeting in San Diego showed that coping with mental stress is harder on a  woman's heart, when compared to that of men. Researcher Chester Ray, PhD, professor of medicine, and cellular and molecular physiology at Penn State's College of...

Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the most common causes of death due to cardiac diseases. Sudden cardiac arrest refers to the sudden loss of heart function, resulting in death. It is different from a heart attack in that the latter is caused by a blockage in one of the vessels that supplies the walls...