Harvard Heart Letter: May 2009

People with artery disease may have a choice between bypass surgery and angioplasty, depending on the circumstances of one's condition and other factors such as whether or not a person can take the medication clopidogrel.

Swimming is exercise that benefits the heart, lungs, and blood vessels, without the joint stress and potential pain caused by running.

Deep-vein thrombosis is a clot that forms in a leg or arm vein. Sometimes a piece of the clot can break away and travel through the bloodstream. If the clot lodges in a lung, it can be fatal. Read More »

Omega-6 fats were once criticized as unhealthy, but researchers for the American Heart Association have concluded that they are in fact beneficial to the heart.

Mindfulness is a form of meditation that encourages greater awareness of one's surroundings and experiences. Volunteers with heart failure who participated in a mindfulness study reported lower levels of anxiety and feelings of better overall health.

Nuts are considered a healthy food when eaten in moderate amounts, but chewing them thoroughly seems to release more of the nut's nutritional value.

A comparison of several different diet strategies found that the choice of diet is less important than cutting daily calorie intake and exercising enough to burn extra calories.

What are the differences between atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation?

Are there any cardiovascular benefits to donating blood? Is it like getting an oil change for your car, with the donation getting rid of old blood cells and the body making new ones?