Welcome to Doc’s Opinion.
The blog is written and edited by Axel F. Sigurdsson MD, Ph.D., FACC.
Dr. Sigurdsson is a cardiologist at the Department of Cardiology at The Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik Iceland. He also practices cardiology at Hjartamidstodin (The Heart Center) which is a private heart clinic in the Reykjavik area. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), The Icelandic Society of Cardiology and the Swedish Society of Cardiology. He is a past president of the Icelandic Cardiac Society.
Dr. Sigurdsson is also a licensed Aviation Medical Examiner. He held the position of Medical Director at Icelandair from September 2004 to August 2019.

Axel F. Sigurdsson MD, PhD
I studied medicine at the University of Iceland between 1978-1984. Upon receiving my medical license, I went to Sweden at the beginning of 1988 for further education and training.
I spent the next eight years at the Sahlgrenska/Östra University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, specializing in internal medicine and cardiology.
In October 1993, I defended my doctoral thesis at the University of Gothenburg, termed “Neurohormonal Activation in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction or Chronic Congestive Heart Failure – With Special Reference to Treatment with Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors”
In 1995-1996 I was a clinical fellow at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria BC, Canada. The primary purpose of my fellowship was training in interventional cardiology, mainly coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI’s).
I have published more than 100 scientific abstracts, articles, and book chapters in international journals and textbooks.
Since 1996 I have worked as a clinical cardiologist at the Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik Iceland as well as practicing internal medicine and cardiology at Hjartamidstodin (The Heart Center) in Kopavogur, Iceland.

Doc’s Opinion
I started writing Doc’s Opinion in the spring of 2012.
My aim is to write informative high quality articles based on medical science. Evidence based medicine is at the core of my writing.
The main purpose of this website is to provide up to date information on preventive medicine, healthy lifestyle, and nutrition, and to provide reliable and practical information about different medical conditions. Although heart disease plays a central role, I also focus on many other areas of medicine.
My goal has always been to write articles that can be read and appreciated by health professionals as well as the general public. Of course, this is a difficult challenge because the gap between the medical literature and what ordinary people can read and understand may sometimes be difficult to overpass.
Bringing medical science to the masses is my mission.
This blog is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this blog or materials linked from this blog is at the user’s own risk. The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.
A List of Some of my Published Scientific Papers
Evidence, Not Evangelism, for Dietary Recommendations
Outcome of myocardial revascularisation in patients fifty years old and younger.
Benefits of Statins in Healthy Elderly Subjects What Is the Number Needed to Treat?
Screening for risk factors of sudden cardiac death in young athletes
A comparison of all coronary angiographies (CA) performed in 2008 in Iceland and Sweden
Angiographic in-stent restenosis is not related to the inflammatory markers hs-CRP and MPO
Diagnostic accuracy of 64-MSCT for detection of in-stent restenosis
The effect of physical training in chronic heart failure
Effects of 3 analgesic regimens on the perception of pain after removal of femoral artery sheaths
Results of percutaneous coronary interventions in Iceland during 1987-1998.
In-hospital heart failure – epidemiology, prognosis and treatment
The role of neurohormonal activation in chronic HF and postmyocardial infarction
ACE inhibitors in patients with minimal or asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction
Short- and long-term neurohormonal activation following myocardial infarction
Enalaprilat in acute myocardial infarction: Tolerability and effects on the reninangiotensin system
Anti-arrhythmia agents after myocardial infarction should be used with caution
The Etiology of Bacterial Cellulitis as Determined by Fine-Needle Aspiration