While cardiovascular disease may be top-of-mind in February during American Heart Month, any time is the right time for women to learn more about what has been deemed their number one killer. More deadly than all forms of cancer combined, cardiovascular disease affects approximately 44 million women in the US. Along with stroke, it can… Continue reading Take This to Heart, Ladies
Category: Heart Health
Your heart keeps your body running. And we keep you on top of everything you need to know about heart health so that you’re in the know.
Cheese Lovers, Rejoice! You May Be Lowering Your Blood Pressure
If you enjoy cheese, you may be lowering your blood pressure – as long as the cheese is Italian. That’s the finding of scientists from the Hypertension Unit of Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital and Catholic University of Piacenza, Italy, who presented their research in New York City in May 2016 at the 31st Annual Scientific… Continue reading Cheese Lovers, Rejoice! You May Be Lowering Your Blood Pressure
Has HDL, the “Good” Cholesterol, Been Hyped?
For years, physicians have told patients that HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) helps protect them from cardiovascular disease (CVD). And the higher the number, the more the protection. HDL, often considered an independent predictor of heart disease, has been dubbed the “good” cholesterol, thanks to its protective effects. But a study done at the University of… Continue reading Has HDL, the “Good” Cholesterol, Been Hyped?
A Controversial Study on Heart-Disease Risk
A new study is raising questions about a tool designed to help physicians prevent heart disease and stroke among people at high risk for those diseases. At issue in the analysis published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology is the “risk calculator,” which aims to help identify people who may face… Continue reading A Controversial Study on Heart-Disease Risk
Do You Really Need General Anesthesia for Heart Valve Replacement Surgery?
The largest observational study of percutaneous transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) demonstrated that moderate sedation use is associated with improved patient outcomes, including lower 30-day mortality and shorter hospital stays, as compared to traditional general anesthesia. This STS/ACC TVT Registry™ analysis was presented May 6th as a late-breaking clinical trial at the Society for… Continue reading Do You Really Need General Anesthesia for Heart Valve Replacement Surgery?
Older Adults Need Better Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Control
The leading cause of death in the elderly, the fastest growing segment of the population, is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Prevention of cardiovascular events in elderly patients presents a therapeutic challenge because this age group is generally underrepresented in clinical trials, and doctors often assume that it is too late to initiate preventive therapy in the… Continue reading Older Adults Need Better Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Control
The Most Effective Health-Awareness Day
Health awareness days are ubiquitous. But does dedicating a day to a serious disease or to healthy living habits actually make a difference in the lives of people who hear about the occasion? In one case, the answer is yes, researchers say. But a new study, published today in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance by… Continue reading The Most Effective Health-Awareness Day
A Change in Heart-Resuscitation Procedure?
Administering heart resuscitation drugs to patients whose cardiac arrest is witnessed at the time of the attack can improve survival, but needs to be done through an IV line rather than directly into bone marrow as is more commonly done by paramedics, a new study involving UT Southwestern Medical Center emergency physicians and Dallas-Fort Worth… Continue reading A Change in Heart-Resuscitation Procedure?
AFib May Affect Walking and Strength in Older Adults
When older people develop atrial fibrillation — the most common type of irregular heartbeat – the condition accelerates age-related declines in walking speed, strength, balance, and other aspects of physical performance. That is the finding of research published in April 2016 in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association journal. A release from the… Continue reading AFib May Affect Walking and Strength in Older Adults
Greek Dancing Improves Jumping Ability of Elderly Heart Failure Patients
As a thirdAGE visitor, you probably remember the sirtaki danced in the 1974 movie “Zorba, the Greek”. Now a study done at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece has shown Greek dancing improves the jumping ability of elderly patients with heart failure. The research was published April 15th in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Patients… Continue reading Greek Dancing Improves Jumping Ability of Elderly Heart Failure Patients
New Heart Disease Screening Target for Middle-Aged Black Women
Middle-aged black women have higher levels of a protein in their blood associated with a predictor of heart disease than their white counterparts, even after other factors such as obesity are taken into consideration. That is the finding of a study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and School of… Continue reading New Heart Disease Screening Target for Middle-Aged Black Women
Many Women Are Not Informed of Heart Disease Risk
Although nearly three-quarters of women taking a recent survey had one or more risk factors for heart disease, a startlingly small proportion — just 16 percent — had actually been told by their doctors that these factors put them at risk for heart disease, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s… Continue reading Many Women Are Not Informed of Heart Disease Risk
Happy Hearts Can Break, Too
Sadness isn’t the only thing that can break a heart. According to researchers, happy events can trigger a heart condition known as takotsubo syndrome. The finding was published in the European Heart Journal. Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is known as “broken heart syndrome” and is characterised by a sudden temporary weakening of the heart muscles that… Continue reading Happy Hearts Can Break, Too
A Cellular Remedy for Heart Failure
Patients with heart failure often have a buildup of scar tissue that leads to a gradual loss of heart function, but researchers say they are making progress toward an approach that could shrink the amount of heart scar tissue while replenishing the supply of healthy heart muscle. The findings, published in the journal Cell Stem… Continue reading A Cellular Remedy for Heart Failure
Genetically Elevated “Good” Cholesterol May Actually Be Bad
The generally accepted medical maxim that elevated HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) is “good” has been overturned by a multi-center international study led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The researchers show that a certain genetic cause of increased HDL-C may actually be “bad,” noting that a specific mutation in… Continue reading Genetically Elevated “Good” Cholesterol May Actually Be Bad
Yogurt May Protect Women From High Blood Pressure
Women who ate five or more servings of yogurt per week had a lower risk of developing high blood pressure compared to those who rarely ate yogurt, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology/Lifestyle 2016 Scientific Sessions in Phoenix AZ. A release from the association quotes Justin Buendia, lead author of the… Continue reading Yogurt May Protect Women From High Blood Pressure
Combining Two Imaging Technologies to Identify Coronary Plaques
Combing optical coherence tomography (OCT) with another advanced imaging technology may more accurately identify coronary artery plaques that are most likely to rupture and cause a heart attack. In a report published online in March 2016 in JACC Cardiovascular Imaging, investigators from the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) describe the first… Continue reading Combining Two Imaging Technologies to Identify Coronary Plaques
Living with Heart Failure
About five million people in the U.S. have heart failure, and that number is inching up. The condition is linked to 300,000 deaths per year, and it’s the most common reason people are hospitalized. The condition develops gradually, experts say, as the pumping ability of the heart grows weaker. At that point, it can’t pump… Continue reading Living with Heart Failure