I always thought that coronary and heart meant pretty much the same thing. If that's so, isn't "coronary heart disease" redundant?

Tantalizing findings show that the heart can make new muscle cells.

Fallout from the frightening era of nuclear weapons testing has blown away the long-held notion that the heart can't make new cells, a finding that may someday usher in new therapies for damaged and failing hearts.

For decades, cardiologists and physiologists have worked under the assumption that we are born with all the heart muscle cells we'll ever have, and when one of those valuable heart cells dies, it won't be replaced. That's a bleak view for hardworking cells that contract more than 30 million times a year. ...

The latest definition should mean fewer missed heart attacks.

A heart attack — myocardial infarction in doctor-speak — isn't an instantly recognizable event. Some attacks are so small they pass almost unnoticed, written off as indigestion or the flu. Others are major catastrophes, causing death or long-lasting disability. What they all have in common is the death of heart muscle caused by a lack of blood flow to part of the heart.

In the 1950s, doctors had to rely on a person's symptoms and sometimes hard-to-interpret changes on an electrocardiogram to determine if a heart attack was under way. ...

Cardiac resynchronization with a biventricular pacemaker helps reduce heart failure symptoms.

The intricately coordinated timing of the heart's beat ensures that the walls of the two lower chambers (the ventricles) contract at the same time. This two-sided muscular push squeezes out as much blood as possible from the ventricles. In many people with heart failure, though, synchrony gives way to an uncoordinated beat in the ventricles. This reduces the heart's pumping power, forcing the heart to work harder, often with harmful consequences.

Not long ago, little could be done about this. Today, a therapy called cardiac resynchronization therapy (also ...

Myocarditis often masquerades as a variety of other problems.

Nestled deep in the chest, the heart is protected from the physical forces that scrape skin or break bone. But it isn't immune to infection and inflammation. Each year, thousands of people develop myocarditis, an inflammation of the middle, muscular layer of the heart. It is triggered by infection, allergic reactions to drugs or chemicals, and some diseases. Myocarditis can be so mild that it passes unnoticed, and so serious that it causes heart failure or sudden death. Since there isn't one sign or symptom that shouts "myocarditis," making the ...

A "polypill" containing multiple blood pressure medications, a statin, and aspirin may be a simple, workable approach to help prevent heart disease.

Aspirin plus warfarin is an effective defense against stroke-causing blood clots, but many people cannot take warfarin. A study found that aspirin plus clopidogrel (Plavix) was also effective.

Levels of LDL cholesterol drop a few points in summer, while HDL rises slightly.

Black tea may lower blood pressure slightly, but the effect is small.

Results of a trial showed that exercise and weight loss combined with the DASH diet for blood pressure control achieved a greater reduction in systolic blood pressure than the diet alone.

A study of German heart attack survivors found a slight correlation between being stuck in traffic and risk of a heart attack.

A brief summary of research with potential future applications: closing off the left atrial appendage to prevent clots, stimulating the brains of stroke victims with laser beams, and a new type of stent that dissolves over time.

  I keep reading that peanut butter is a healthy food. But it contains saturated fat and has more sodium than potassium. That doesn't sound healthy to me.   Read More »