It's never too late to strike out against a potentially devastating brain attack.

Like close cousins, heart disease and stroke share a common lineage. Both emerge from a mix of nature (genes), nurture (upbringing and environment), and personal choice (smoking, exercise, etc). For most of us, personal choice largely determines whether a stroke lies ahead. Guidelines on the prevention of stroke suggest that a healthy lifestyle can cut the risk of having one by 80%. No drug, device, or other intervention can come close to doing that.

The term "stroke" conjures up a frightening bolt out of the blue. It ...

It may be okay for prevention. But eating fish is a better strategy than gulping pills.

Fish oil has been flying high as a supplement for the past few years. It has garnered a reputation as an easy way to protect the heart, ease inflammation, improve mental health, and lengthen life. Such claims are one reason why Americans spend more than $1 billion a year on over-the-counter fish oil, and why food companies are adding it to milk, yogurt, cereal, chocolate, cookies, juice, and hundreds of other foods.

But as has happened with so many other supplements, fish oil may ...

Collaborative approach aims to improve cardiac care.

Heart problems tend to come in clumps. Arteries clog. Valves don't open or close all the way. The heart's rhythm becomes irregular. Many people face not one but two or more treatment decisions.

Just a few years ago, someone who required multiple cardiac procedures might have had separate procedures done by specialists working in different parts of a hospital. In a catheter lab, a cardiologist would insert a stent to reopen an artery. Later, in an operating room, a cardiac surgeon would fix or replace a faulty valve. Hours might pass in between, ...

Unnecessary blood transfusion can do more harm than good.

Blood transfusion deserves a prominent place in the pantheon of medical advances. It has saved countless lives on the battlefield and in hospital emergency departments. It is a life-prolonging treatment for people with conditions that prevent the body from making blood or blood components, from kidney disease and cancer to disorders such as hemophilia and sickle cell anemia. But whether blood should be routinely transfused during or after heart surgery is a question that more and more people are asking. The answer is tilting toward "no."

Questioning 30/10 The theory behind ...

Researchers correlated the stock market's woes in 2008 and 2009 with an increase in heart attacks.

Small, yellow skin lesions that develop on the eyelids may be an indicator of heart disease.

Combining a biventricular pacemaker and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator may help prevent death from cardiac arrest better than the ICD alone.

Despite studies that suggested those who gain weight with age might live longer, having a body mass index in the normal range still correlates with a lower death rate.

People with rheumatoid arthritis may be more likely to develop heart problems.

I am a 50-year-old woman with newly diagnosed high blood pressure. My pressure seems to be normal in the morning, averaging 121/74, but in the afternoon the upper number is often in the 140s to 150s. Is this normal, especially while on a medication?

You have written about low potassium in the blood and ways to improve it, but I never read about too much potassium in the blood. Can you tell me why it happens and what is done about it?