Heart Health Archive

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that people are capable of changing their behavior— surprisingly fast—when the stakes are high. Can we apply that resolve to other persistent issues that affect our health and quality of life?

People with disease of the left main coronary artery usually have the option of bypass surgery or angioplasty and placement of a stent. Two recent studies comparing these choices came to different conclusions about which is more effective.

Millions of Americans have trouble sleeping, a factor that is key to cardiovascular health. Two recent studies examined the relationship between sleep and heart health, and between sleep and dietary choices.

Most people with type 2 diabetes also have obesity. Weight-loss surgery has a positive impact on risk factors for heart disease, and a recent study found that this surgery significantly reduced the risk of death in people with obesity and diabetes.

New studies shed light on the role of aspirin for people without a previous heart attack or stroke.

 Image: © dszc/Getty Images

It costs just pennies per pill, doesn't require a prescription, and may be lifesaving for some people. But daily low-dose aspirin doesn't make sense for everyone. Now, three major studies that examined the benefits and risks of this widely used drug may alter the advice about who should take aspirin.

"Aspirin remains a cornerstone of treatment after a heart attack or stroke. But the question of whether people with a low to moderate risk of heart disease should take aspirin is a really important one," says Dr. Christopher Cannon, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Tens of millions of people in the United States fall into that low-to-moderate-risk category. But until now, there weren't many large trials that included those people, he notes.

You can begin to reduce your "bad" LDL cholesterol naturally by making a few simple changes in your diet.

If your cholesterol is creeping upward, your doctor has probably told you that diet and exercise—the traditional cornerstones of heart health—could help to bring it down. And if you'd prefer to make just one change at a time to lower your cholesterol naturally, you might want to begin with your diet. A major analysis of several controlled trials involving hundreds of men and women found that dietary changes reduced LDL and total cholesterol while exercise alone had no effect on either. (However, adding aerobic exercise did enhance the lipid-lowering effects of a heart-healthy diet.)

Not a fan of running? Good news: You don’t need to run fast, far, or that often to reap benefits. And you can ease into running by doing a run/walk program, where you alternate periods of running and walking and gradually increase the time spent running.

Postprandial hypotension, low blood pressure that occurs after eating, can cause dizziness, chest pain, nausea, or other issues, particularly in the elderly.

Trans fats and saturated fats can raise LDL cholesterol levels. A diet rich in unsaturated fats, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables can lower them.