Heart Health Archive

Having sex (or performing any kind of physical activity) triples the risk of having a heart attack, according to a new study. But there’s more to the story. The odds of having a heart attack during sex are about 1 in one million; tripling the risk boosts it to 3 in one million. In other words, sex can cause a heart attack, but usually doesn’t. And the more a person exercises, or has sex, the lower the chances of having a heart attack during the activity.

In a seven-day span, three high-school athletes died while pursuing their sports. An epidemic? No. Approximately 100 youth, high school, and college athletes die each year, many from a cardiovascular problem. The deaths renewed a hot debate among parents, coaches, and physicians: should the pre-sports checkup for competitive athletes include an electrocardiogram (ECG)?

When a fellow shopper suddenly collapsed in the grocery store, Harvard Health editor Ann MacDonald couldn’t exactly remember how to do CPR, even though she took a class some years ago. She knows now how to help when someone is having a sudden cardiac arrest. Her post offers basic instruction and resources for getting prepared.

It may be okay for prevention. But eating fish is a better strategy than gulping pills.

Fish oil has been flying high as a supplement for the past few years. It has garnered a reputation as an easy way to protect the heart, ease inflammation, improve mental health, and lengthen life. Such claims are one reason why Americans spend more than $1 billion a year on over-the-counter fish oil, and why food companies are adding it to milk, yogurt, cereal, chocolate, cookies, juice, and hundreds of other foods.

Same-day angioplasty feasible, safe

Patel M, Kim M, Karajgikar R, et al. Outcomes of patients discharged the same day following percutaneous coronary intervention. JACC Cardiovascular Interventions 2010; 3:851-8.

Chambers CE, Dehmer GJ, Cox DA, et al. Defining the length of stay following percutaneous coronary intervention: an expert consensus document from the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. Endorsed by the American College of Cardiology Foundation. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions 2009; 73:847-58.

They can shock a heart back into rhythm and save a life. But are too many of these heart devices being implanted?

Each month, about 10,000 Americans have implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) put into their bodies. The main function of these devices is to sense fast or irregular heart rhythms that can be potentially fatal and then to shock the ventricles, the heart's two main pumping chambers, back into a regular, healthy heartbeat. The shock can be quite painful and may feel like a hard punch or kick in the chest. In essence, the ICD is an automated, in-the-body version of the defibrillator paddles used in cardiac emergencies.

It's never too late to strike out against a potentially devastating brain attack.

Like close cousins, heart disease and stroke share a common lineage. Both emerge from a mix of nature (genes), nurture (upbringing and environment), and personal choice (smoking, exercise, etc). For most of us, personal choice largely determines whether a stroke lies ahead. Guidelines on the prevention of stroke suggest that a healthy lifestyle can cut the risk of having one by 80%. No drug, device, or other intervention can come close to doing that.

Collaborative approach aims to improve cardiac care.

Heart problems tend to come in clumps. Arteries clog. Valves don't open or close all the way. The heart's rhythm becomes irregular. Many people face not one but two or more treatment decisions.

Just a few years ago, someone who required multiple cardiac procedures might have had separate procedures done by specialists working in different parts of a hospital. In a catheter lab, a cardiologist would insert a stent to reopen an artery. Later, in an operating room, a cardiac surgeon would fix or replace a faulty valve. Hours might pass in between, involving transport from a sterile environment to an unsterile one and back again. In some cases, the two procedures might even require separate hospital visits.

Unnecessary blood transfusion can do more harm than good.

Blood transfusion deserves a prominent place in the pantheon of medical advances. It has saved countless lives on the battlefield and in hospital emergency departments. It is a life-prolonging treatment for people with conditions that prevent the body from making blood or blood components, from kidney disease and cancer to disorders such as hemophilia and sickle cell anemia. But whether blood should be routinely transfused during or after heart surgery is a question that more and more people are asking. The answer is tilting toward "no."

The country's financial downturn has caused a lot of economic pain, usually measured in terms of lost jobs and home foreclosures. It may be time to add a health dimension to the misery index, with heart attacks soaring as the stock market crashes (American Journal of Cardiology, Dec. 1, 2010).

Researchers at Duke University reviewed medical records for 11,590 people who had undergone testing for heart disease during a three-year period, and then compared monthly heart attack rates with stock market levels. Heart attacks increased steadily during one eight-month period — September 2008 to March 2009 — that was particularly bad for the stock market (see graph).