5 timeless habits for better health
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Is your breakfast cereal healthy?
When pain signals an emergency: Symptoms you should never ignore
Does exercise give you energy?
Acupuncture for pain relief: How it works and what to expect
How to avoid jet lag: Tips for staying alert when you travel
Biofeedback therapy: How it works and how it can help relieve pain
Best vitamins and minerals for energy
Should you take probiotics with antibiotics?
Heart Attack Archive
Articles
Biotin supplements may interfere with test to diagnose heart attack
Research we're watching
Taking supplements that contain high levels of biotin (vitamin B7) can lead to falsely low results on a blood test used to detect heart attacks, according to an FDA warning issued late last year.
For adults, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for biotin is 0.03 milligrams (mg), which is easily obtained through a healthy, varied diet. Many multivitamins and prenatal vitamins contain far more biotin than the RDA. And some supplements — particularly those marketed to improve hair, nails, and skin — contain 20 mg, or nearly 650 times the RDA.
Gout drug may help prevent repeat heart attacks
Research we're watching
A drug long used to treat a painful form of arthritis called gout may also benefit heart attack survivors, according to a new study.
Derived from the autumn crocus, colchicine (Colcrys, Mitigare) helps to ease the joint inflammation and pain that characterize gout. Because mounting evidence suggests that inflammation plays a role in heart disease, researchers have tested various anti-inflammatory drugs in heart patients. The latest study, published online Nov. 16, 2019, by The New England Journal of Medicine, tested colchicine against a placebo in 4,745 people who had experienced a heart attack within the previous month. All the participants also took standard drugs to treat heart disease, including statins, aspirin, and other clot-preventing drugs.
Don’t stress about heart health
Chronic stress is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. These strategies can help you manage it.
People often complain about stress, but it's actually a natural reaction with an essential purpose.
When the body senses danger, it starts its fight-or-flight response. Your nervous system releases hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which jolt the body into a protective mode. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breathing quickens, and your senses sharpen.
Is nighttime the right time for blood pressure drugs?
Taking these medications at bedtime rather than in the morning may make them more effective.
Many people take their medications as part of their morning ritual, along with a cup of coffee and the daily newspaper. But for blood pressure drugs, evening may be a better option. Last year, a large study found that taking blood pressure drugs before bed may lower the risk of serious heart-related complications more than taking the drugs in the morning (see "Benefits of bedtime blood pressure dosing").
The concept of chronotherapy, or adjusting medication dosing to a specific time of day, isn't new. There's not a great deal of evidence to support the practice with cardiovascular drugs, but it makes sense, says Dr. Naomi Fisher, director of the Hypertension Specialty Clinic at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.
How better blood pressure control may benefit the brain
Research we're watching
Treating high blood pressure may do more than prevent heart attacks and strokes. In older adults, intensive blood pressure lowering may also conserve brain function, according to a new study.
Published online Oct. 14, 2019, by the journal Circulation, the study included 199 adults ages 75 and older, all with a systolic blood pressure value (the first number in a reading) of 150 or higher. Their brain scans also showed lesions in the brain's white matter, which contains nerve fibers that send signals from one part of the brain to another. The lesions, which reflect damaged small blood vessels, have been linked to a propensity for thinking and memory problems. About two-thirds of people over age 75 have white matter lesions, as do most people over age 90.
Omega-3 supplements may improve heart health
In the journals
Research continues to explore the possible benefits of omega-3 fish oil supplements, especially for heart health, and a recent review of existing data suggests they may protect against heart attack and coronary artery disease.
Researchers from Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital examined 13 trials, involving almost 128,000 people, to look for any association between omega-3 supplements and the risk of heart attacks, strokes, coronary artery disease, and death from cardiovascular disease. Their results were published online Sept. 30, 2019, by the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Hot flashes and heart health
This symptom is common in menopause, but frequent or persistent episodes could be a sign of higher risk for heart attack or stroke.
Researchers have begun to pay more attention to cardiovascular risk factors that are unique to women, such as early menopause (before age 40) and certain pregnancy complications. Recently they turned their attention to a common menopausal symptom that affects up to 85% of women: hot flashes.
Study results presented in September 2019 to the North American Menopause Society from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) found that women who experience frequent or persistent hot flashes may be more likely than women who don't to experience a heart attack or stroke or other serious cardiovascular problems. (Researchers defined "frequent" hot flashes as having them six or more days in the previous two-week period. Women with "persistent" hot flashes reported those frequent hot flashes at 25% or more of study visits.)
Advice about taking aspirin and statins after age 75
These drugs are mainstays for preventing heart disease. Are they safe and effective in older people?
Low-dose aspirin and statins are both common, inexpensive drugs that help prevent the two root causes of most heart attacks — blood clots and cholesterol-laden plaque clogging the arteries of the heart. In recent years, a number of studies have helped experts refine their advice as to who should or should not take these medications.
However, evidence-based advice for people in their mid-70s and beyond is a bit harder to come by. Historically, most drug trials have included only a small proportion of people 75 and older, in part because there are fewer people in that age demographic. Also, older people tend to have other chronic health conditions. As such, they may be more prone to drug side effects, making doctors reluctant to enroll them in clinical trials.
Who needs aspirin?
Age, family history, and other risk factors determine if daily aspirin can help prevent a heart attack or stroke.
For many of us, aspirin was the go-to medicine of our youth. Everything from headaches, colds, and general aches and pains were treated with two aspirin and a glass of water.
For decades, aspirin was widely believed to be a safe way to protect healthy adults from heart attacks and strokes. But over the past couple years, new research has questioned this premise and many doctors have already stopped prescribing aspirin for adults at low risk of cardiovascular disease.
Flu shot may lower risk of early death in people with high blood pressure
In the journals
Need another reason to get your annual flu shot? It could protect you from a fatal heart attack or stroke if you suffer from high blood pressure, according to research presented at a 2019 joint conference of the European Society of Cardiology Congress and the World Congress of Cardiology.
Previous research has found that the inflammation from a flu infection can trigger a heart attack or stroke, and people with high blood pressure are especially at high risk.
5 timeless habits for better health
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
Is your breakfast cereal healthy?
When pain signals an emergency: Symptoms you should never ignore
Does exercise give you energy?
Acupuncture for pain relief: How it works and what to expect
How to avoid jet lag: Tips for staying alert when you travel
Biofeedback therapy: How it works and how it can help relieve pain
Best vitamins and minerals for energy
Should you take probiotics with antibiotics?
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