Heart Health Archive

An enlarged heart has many possible causes, including conditions that force the heart to work harder than usual (such as chronic high blood pressure or heart valve problems) and different types of cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease).

About one in seven adults in the United States has chronic kidney disease. Simple screening tests can detect the problem, which can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

A busy schedule can make it challenging to adhere to heart-healthy habits, but there are steps you can take that don't require much time and can fit easily into almost anyone's life.

Growing evidence suggests that poor sleep is linked to a host of health problems, including a higher risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Now, a recent study on people in midlife finds that having a combination of sleep problems may nearly triple a person's risk of heart disease.

Virtual cardiac rehabilitation offers heart-related education and supervised exercise classes that people can access at home using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. This growing trend may help make cardiac rehab more convenient and accessible.

The scientific understanding of HDL cholesterol has evolved in recent years, and many cardiologists now believe that HDL may be more of a bystander rather than a "good guy" that helps lower heart disease risk. While some types of HDL are great at plucking excess cholesterol from LDL and artery walls (a process referred to as reverse cholesterol transport) other types of HDL don't do this. In clinical trials, medications to raise HDL levels-including a drug specifically designed to improve reverse cholesterol transport-have not succeeded in lowering heart attacks and strokes.