Heart Health Archive

Research we're watching

Mental stress can cause arteries throughout the body to constrict. In people with heart disease, this effect can reduce blood supply to the heart muscle, a phenomenon known as mental stress–induced ischemia. New research suggests that this problem may affect women differently from men.

For the study, 678 adults (average age 63) delivered a speech while researchers measured their blood pressure and heart rate, took imaging pictures of their hearts, and measured the constriction of tiny arteries in their fingers. In women, mental stress–induced ischemia mostly resulted from constriction of tiny arteries. The resulting greater resistance requires the heart to use more force in pumping blood. In contrast, the ischemia seen in men was mostly due to a rise in blood pressure and heart rate. The findings are yet another reminder for people to find ways to avoid and manage mental stress. But they also hint that women's hearts may be more vulnerable to this problem. The study was published online Dec. 21, 2017, by the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

Research we're watching

People with heart disease who are married seem to fare better than those who are unmarried, a new study suggests.

For the study, researchers tracked more than 6,000 people with heart disease for an average of 3.7 years. They found that compared with married people, those who were divorced, separated, widowed, or never married were 52% more likely to experience a heart attack. Unmarried people also had a 45% higher risk of dying of heart disease, even after researchers accounted for confounding factors such as severity of disease, medication use, and socioeconomic status. The study was published in the Dec. 20, 2017, Journal of the American Heart Association.

Red wine contains compounds thought to lower heart disease risk. But the evidence that wine protects the heart is muddled.

Have you ever topped off your glass of cabernet or pinot noir while saying, "Hey, it's good for my heart, right?" This widely held impression dates back to a catchphrase coined in the late 1980s: the French Paradox.

The French Paradox refers to the notion that drinking wine may explain the relatively low rates of heart disease among the French, despite their fondness for cheese and other rich, fatty foods. This theory helped spur the discovery of a host of beneficial plant compounds known as polyphenols. Found in red and purple grape skins (as well as many other fruits, vegetables, and nuts), polyphenols purportedly explain wine's heart-protecting properties. Another argument stems from the fact that the Mediterranean diet, an eating pattern shown to ward off heart attacks and strokes, features red wine.

The new guidelines set a lower target and emphasize lifestyle changes. Here's why eating less salt is important.

High blood pressure — a major cause of heart attack and stroke — recently became far more prevalent in the United States, but not because people have become suddenly less healthy. Last fall, new guidelines lowered the threshold for diagnosing the condition, which used to be defined as a blood pressure reading of 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher. Now, anyone with a reading of 130/80 mm Hg or higher is considered to have high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). Nearly half of adults now fall into this group.

Many cardiologists welcomed the updated guidelines, published in the Nov. 7, 2017, Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "The new guidelines are based upon a growing body of evidence that lower blood pressure values are associated with fewer major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure," says Dr. Randall Zusman, a hypertension expert at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Over all, people with Stage 1 hypertension (see "Blood pressure categories") have double the risk of those events compared with people who have normal blood pressure.

This easy, stress-relieving exercise may help heal your heart.

If you have a heart attack or undergo stenting, improving your cardiovascular health should be a top priority. A great way to move toward that goal is to enroll in cardiac rehabilitation, a multiweek program of structured exercise paired with lifestyle and nutrition education.

Unfortunately, not all doctors refer their patients to such a program, which is recommended for a number of conditions, including most heart surgeries. Also, for a range of reasons, more than 60% of eligible people choose not to attend cardiac rehab. Sometimes travel and cost issues are barriers. But others worry that the exercise component of the program will be too difficult or tiring. For them, the ancient Chinese practice of tai chi may be a good alternative, according to a small study in the Oct. 11, 2017, Journal of the American Heart Association.

A study questioned the benefit of stents for some heart patients. What does this mean for people with chest pain?

Last fall, many news outlets highlighted a study suggesting that a common heart procedure — inserting a stent to open a narrowed heart artery — was no better than a sham procedure (see "Stent vs. sham: A short summary"). But the big picture isn't quite so simple.

For instance, it's worth noting that six weeks prior to undergoing the procedures, all of the 200 people who completed the study were prescribed increasing doses of heart medications. Referred to as optimal medical therapy, this approach is a proven strategy for treating chest pain brought on by physical activity or emotional stress that promptly goes away with rest or nitroglycerin (so-called stable angina).

Lifestyle changes are vital, but new medications may help.

 a_namenko; © Halfpoint | Thinkstock; zaretskaya | GettyImages

Two of the most prevalent health problems in this country — type 2 diabetes and heart disease — are closely linked. People with diabetes are more than twice as likely to die from heart disease than those without diabetes. An array of overlapping risk factors (such as being overweight and having high blood pressure and cholesterol levels) probably explains part of this association.

On the plus side, a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats, coupled with regular moderate exercise (at least 30 minutes daily, most days of the week) can help people dodge the dangers associated with both heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Even so, most people with type 2 diabetes must also take the drug metformin (or other medications) to help reduce their high blood sugar levels, the hallmark of the disease.

Research we're watching

 Image: © Shaiith/Thinkstock

Adding a little extra spice to your food may help you eat less salt, according to a study in the December 2017 issue of Hypertension. A salty diet may raise your risk of high blood pressure, leaving you more prone to heart attack and stroke.

For the study, Chinese researchers recruited 606 people and determined their preferences for salty and spicy foods, in part by asking how often they ate foods such as salted fried pork and pickled Chinese cabbage.

Research we're watching

A canine companion provides unconditional love and encourages extra exercise. Could those benefits explain why dog owners are less likely to die of heart disease than people without dogs? Maybe, say the authors of the largest-ever study of dog ownership and human health, published online Nov. 17, 2017, by Scientific Reports.

The 12-year study included over 3.4 million Swedish adults ages 40 to 80. Using data from national health sources and dog ownership registries, researchers found that dog owners had a lower risk of death due to heart disease.