Heart Disease Archive

Women don't fare as well as men when it comes to getting treatment for coronary artery disease. Social and cultural factors may help explain this discrepancy. Women tend to downplay their symptoms and delay seeking treatment. But health care providers may be contributing to this problem, too A major underlying issue may be the underrepresentation of women in clinical trials of heart-related conditions.

Hybrid exercise training combines heart-pumping aerobic action with muscle-strengthening moves in the same exercise session. The strategy has the advantage of meeting two key goals of the federal Physical Activity Guidelines in one fell swoop. And it also appears to be one of the best—and most time-efficient—ways for people who are overweight to lower their risk of cardiovascular-related risk factors. Strong muscles boost a person's basal metabolic rate—the amount of energy the body needs to keep working during rest. That improves weight-loss efforts by ramping up the number of calories burned.

For some people, the effects of the influenza (flu) virus can lead to a heart attack or cardiac arrest (sudden death). These people typically have reduced blood flow to the heart due to atherosclerosis (narrowed arteries). Because the flu can cause blood oxygen levels to drop to dangerously low levels, it can further reduce the supply of oxygen to the heart, causing a heart attack or cardiac arrest. Fortunately, getting an annual flu shot is associated with reduced risks of a heart attack and related cardiac events.

Sugar is a carbohydrate that provides the body with energy and has an important role in nutrition. It is found in many healthy whole foods, but it is also abundant in unhealthy processed foods. The problem many people have with sugar is that they consume too much of the refined kind added to many processed food products, and not enough of the natural kind in fruits, vegetables, and grains.

A randomized trial published May 14, 2022, in The Lancet found that people with heart disease who ate a Mediterranean diet for seven years had a 26% lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke, compared with people who ate a low-fat diet.

Machine learning, a key aspect of artificial intelligence (AI), may improve the diagnosis of heart disease by analyzing large amounts of data from chest CT scans, echocardiograms, and electrocardiograms. By recognizing patterns, the machine "learns" and becomes more accurate over time. Current projects include diagnosing coronary artery disease with stress echocardiography and detecting multiple heart rhythm disorders from electrocardiograms in different formats and layouts.

Not getting sufficient sleep may harm the cardiovascular system by triggering physiological and hormonal changes that increase blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood levels of substances that indicate inflammation. People who don't regularly get at least seven hours of sleep a night should assess their daily habits to look for ways to improve, such as by establishing an earlier bedtime and turning off all electronic devices at least an hour before bedtime.

Cardiac CT angiography (CCTA), a noninvasive test to check for clogged heart arteries, is now considered a first-line test for people with suspected heart disease. This test uses a CT scanner, which takes multiple, rapid x-rays that are merged together to create a detailed, three-dimensional view of the heart's arteries. CCTA appears to be just as effective as traditional angiography for detecting and preventing heart attacks, strokes, and death from heart disease, but with fewer procedure-related risks.

Electrical cardioversion is a procedure that uses low-energy shocks to convert a rapid or irregular heartbeat back to a normal rhythm. People remain asleep during the brief procedure, so they don't feel anything.

Mammograms are still the gold standard method for breast screening, but additional imaging tests can help detect cancers that might otherwise be missed in women with dense breasts or other breast cancer risk factors. Ultrasound is inexpensive but has a high false-positive rate if used alone. MRI is expensive but very accurate for tumor detection. Three-dimensional mammograms are highly accurate but have a 50% false-positive rate over a decade of yearly screening in women ages 40 to 79.