Heart Health Archive

Beets rarely rank high on anyone's list of most-loved vegetables. But here's a reason to give these ruby-red roots another try: beet juice may help lower blood pressure, according to a study in the February 2015 Hypertension.

Beets contain naturally high levels of nitrates, which your digestive system converts into nitric oxide. This compound relaxes and widens blood vessels, which, in turn, lowers blood pressure.

A week or so after having a heart attack, if you can take a brisk walk without any heart-related symptoms, it's fine to have sex. So say the guidelines from the American Heart Association. But most doctors don't share this advice with their patients, according to a study in the December 2014 Circulation.

The study included more than 2,300 women and 1,100 men between the ages of 18 and 55. Just 12% of women and 19% of the men reported receiving any counseling about sexual activity within a month of their heart attacks. Those who did get advice were often given restrictions (such as to limit sex or to take a more passive role) that are not supported by evidence or guidelines. Being female or older was linked to a lower likelihood of receiving counseling.

A recent study in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that people with mild high blood pressure and no symptoms of heart disease can still benefit from taking blood pressure medication.

When your blood pressure tips above 140/90 mm Hg, most doctors suggest medication—in addition to healthy diet and exercise. The higher your blood pressure, the greater the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death. What experts disagree on is how low you should shoot for once your blood pressure is clearly above the 140/90 threshold.

The abnormal heart rhythms from atrial fibrillation (afib) can form clots that, in turn, trigger strokes. To prevent that, people with afib take a blood-thinning medication to prevent clotting. But also taking common over-the-counter painkillers can block clotting too much and lead to dangerous bleeding, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Danish researchers examined health records of more than 150,000 people with afib. A third of them had also been prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve). These common pain relievers interfere with the body's natural clotting function. Paradoxically, some NSAIDs have also been linked to higher risk of thromboembolism, or a clot that forms in the body and travel to the lungs, brain, or elsewhere.

Warnings against eating foods high in cholesterol, like eggs or shrimp, have been a mainstay of dietary recommendations for decades. That could change if the scientific advisory panel for the 2015 iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has its say. A summary of the committee’s December 2014 meeting says “Cholesterol is not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.” Translation: You don’t need to worry about cholesterol in your food. Why not? There’s a growing consensus among nutrition scientists that cholesterol in food has little effect on the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream. And that’s the cholesterol that matters. Doing away with the beware-cholesterol-in-food warning would simplify the art of choosing healthy foods. And it would let people enjoy foods that contain higher amounts of cholesterol, such as eggs, shrimp, and lobster, without worrying about it. A better focus is on reducing saturated fat and trans fat in the diet, which play greater roles in damaging blood vessels than dietary cholesterol.

Gum disease is associated with coronary artery disease.

The link between oral health and heart health may seem an unlikely one. But proper care for your teeth and gums may help lower your risk for developing heart disease.

Gum disease leads to inflammation—the immune system's attempt to heal injury. The chemicals produced by inflammation of the gums get into the blood. When they reach the heart, those chemicals may increase inflammation inside plaques of atherosclerosis in the arteries of the heart—thereby increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Don't let misconceptions about these medications prevent you from taking them. 

Q. I've heard that low vitamin D levels have been linked to heart disease, so I'm wondering if I should
be taking a vitamin D supplement, just in case. What's your advice? 

A. I suggest that you make sure you're getting the Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin D, which is 600 international units (IU) for adults up to age 70 and 800 IU for those older than 70. It's true that low vitamin D levels have been linked to heart disease in some studies. However, low vitamin D might just be a consequence of a poor diet and lack of exercise, which can contribute to obesity, heart disease, and a host of other health problems. And to date, there is no evidence that taking additional vitamin D helps prevent or treat any of those conditions, though large studies are ongoing and should provide a definitive answer in the next few years.

Q. I had a heart attack several years ago and have been taking low-dose aspirin ever since to prevent a second one. But I keep hearing about the bleeding risks caused by aspirin. What should I be watching for? 

A. Aspirin prevents tiny cell fragments in the blood called platelets from clumping together and forming clots. But it also increases the risk of minor bleeding. You may notice that cuts bleed a little longer than usual. Bruises, which happen when blood leaks out of small vessels (capillaries) after an injury, may also be more noticeable.

Are you getting enough calcium, potassium, and magnesium to keep your blood pressure in a healthy range?

Cutting back on salt is the first commandment in controlling high blood pressure, or hypertension. But managing your intake of other dietary minerals also appears to be key. "We're moving beyond just looking at sodium," says Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. Research from the landmark DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) trial and more recently the OmniHeart study has shed light on the synergy of different foods and the role of minerals such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium in controlling blood pressure.