Recent Blog Articles
Dupuytren's contracture of the hand
Why play? Early games build bonds and brain
Moving from couch to 5K
How — and why — to fit more fiber and fermented food into your meals
Tick season is expanding: Protect yourself against Lyme disease
What? Another medical form to fill out?
How do trees and green spaces enhance our health?
A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do
Harvard Health Ad Watch: New drug, old song, clever tagline
Concussion in children: What to know and do
Heart Disease Archive
Articles
After the baby grows up, how will your heart fare?
Pregnancy and reproductive complications, including high blood pressure, diabetes, pre-eclampsia, infertility, and stillbirth, are linked with higher cardiovascular risks in affected women many years later. Such complications affect 5% to 10% of pregnancies and are rising as obesity rates increase and more women postpone pregnancy. Ongoing preventive care and screenings are crucial for women who experienced pregnancy complications to monitor blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels and treat any irregularities aggressively.
Men, women, and red meat risk: Maybe both sexes should put down the burger
A 2023 review of 70 studies found that both unprocessed and processed red meat are linked to higher risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, with no apparent difference in risk between men and women.
Heart-healthy eating: How does your diet stack up?
Four eating patterns—including the DASH, Mediterranean, pescatarian, and vegetarian diets—align most closely with recommendations for a heart-healthy diet, according to a 2023 scientific statement from the American Heart Association. These diets limit saturated fat and excess carbohydrates, especially highly processed carbohydrates and sugary drinks. Evidence supporting these diets comes from decades of randomized trials, population-based studies, and other research.
The (almost) last word on alcohol and health
Research into the health benefits of alcohol has not provided a clear answer. Some findings suggest that alcohol helps protect against heart disease and lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and drinkers tend to live longer than nondrinkers. Other studies say these benefits are less clear. If you don't drink alcohol now, there are no health reasons to start drinking. If you do enjoy it, it's best to have no more than 2 drinks in the same day.
24-hour blood pressure monitoring outperforms clinic readings
Wearing a device that automatically records blood pressure every 30 to 60 minutes for 24 hours (known as ambulatory blood pressure monitoring) may better predict death from cardiovascular disease and other causes than clinic blood pressure readings.
Calcium score may foretell heart risk better than genetic test
A calcium score, which quantifies the plaque inside the heart's arteries, can sometimes improve the ability to assess a person's risk of heart disease beyond the traditional heart disease risk score.
Race, racism, and heart disease: Why awareness matters
In the United States, Black adults are more than twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease than white adults. Discrimination and its downstream effects may underlie the survival gaps in cardiovascular disease between racial groups. Discrimination includes the daily hassles and indignities people experience in daily life and is reflected in a higher frequency of traumatic experiences. Unfair treatment can also affect employment opportunities, which limits opportunities to live in areas with access to heathy food, safe places to exercise, and good medical care.
What's the latest on wearables for finding atrial fibrillation?
Five smart watches capable of recording an electrocardiogram and detecting atrial fibrillation have been cleared for the market by the FDA. The devices can continuously monitor a person's pulse for an abnormally rapid heart rate and tell the wearer when to record an ECG, which involves opening an app and touching the side of the watch for 30 seconds. But it's not clear if using this feature can improve a person's health. There are many other ways to screen for afib. These strategies, which include simply checking one's pulse or wearing a heart monitor, depend on a person's afib risk and symptoms.
Talk therapy for depression may help lower heart disease risk
For people with depression, successful treatment with talk therapy may lower the risk for heart disease, perhaps by helping them adopt healthier habits, according to a 2023 study.
Living longer, free of heart disease?
Lifestyle habits to prevent heart disease and strokes may also lower a person's risk for two other leading causes of death: cancer and dementia.
Recent Blog Articles
Dupuytren's contracture of the hand
Why play? Early games build bonds and brain
Moving from couch to 5K
How — and why — to fit more fiber and fermented food into your meals
Tick season is expanding: Protect yourself against Lyme disease
What? Another medical form to fill out?
How do trees and green spaces enhance our health?
A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do
Harvard Health Ad Watch: New drug, old song, clever tagline
Concussion in children: What to know and do
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