Heart Health Archive

Many provide links to published research about these heart -protecting drugs. Others mention personal beliefs about statins, some of which are inaccurate.

Statins are among the most frequently prescribed medications in the United States. These cholesterol-lowering drugs help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, especially for people who've already had one of those life-threatening events. But many people stop taking their statins or don't take them as prescribed, a phenomenon doctors refer to as nonadherence.

Hoping to gain some insight into this trend, researchers analyzed 11,852 posts that mentioned statins on Twitter over a five-year period. About a quarter of Americans use Twitter, which is one of the most popular social media platforms. Although many of the tweets featured ads or financial market information, nearly half were related to health issues associated with statins. Of these, more than a third provided resource information, such as a link to a published study. About 20% included personal beliefs or attitudes about statins, which proved to be quite polarized. Some people described statins as lifesaving, while others referred to them as poisonous or deadly, according to the researchers, whose study was published June 25, 2020, in JAMA Network Open.

More than 10 million adults in the US have hypothyroidism — when the thyroid gland fails to produce enough thyroid hormone to meet the body’s needs — but the vast majority of these cases are considered mild. Whether or not to treat mild hypothyroidism is an ongoing debate. There is a possible link between mild hypothyroidism and coronary artery disease, but researchers found that treating it in older people did not provide any benefit.

Research we're watching

Frail, older people with health problems may live longer if they take the blood pressure medications their doctors prescribe, according to a study published in the August 2020 issue of the journal Hypertension.

Previous research suggests that in general, older people benefit from blood pressure drugs. But trials usually don't include people with multiple medical conditions, because those health problems make longevity findings challenging to interpret.

Research we're watching

Ticagrelor (Brilinta), a drug that helps prevent blood clots, was approved in 2011 for treating people who had experienced a heart attack or acute coronary syndrome (a sudden loss of blood flow to the heart). Now, the drug can be prescribed to a broader group of people. In June 2020, the FDA expanded ticagrelor's approval to reduce the likelihood of first heart attack or stroke among high-risk people with coronary artery disease.

The expansion is based on results from a multiyear study of more than 19,000 people with coronary artery disease and diabetes at high risk for a heart attack. Participants who took aspirin plus ticagrelor were less likely to experience a heart attack, stroke, or death from heart disease compared with those who took aspirin alone.

Research we're watching

People with chronic pain may be more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those without chronic pain, according to a study published online May 7, 2020, by the journal Pain Medicine.

From 2001 to 2005, researchers identified 17,614 Taiwanese people who had used pain relievers for at least three months. The most common causes of pain were spinal disorders, arthritis, and headaches; the pain relievers included both over-the-counter drugs and prescription opioids. For the comparison group, researchers used 35,228 people without chronic pain who were matched by age and sex to those in the first group.

Ask the doctor

Q. My husband is reluctant to get tested for sleep apnea. But I'm pretty sure that he has it, and I'm concerned because I've heard that it can contribute to heart disease. How are these two conditions connected?

A. As you likely know already, people with sleep apnea may snore loudly and may also periodically gasp for breath throughout the night. These explosive snorts often wake up bed partners or roommates — although not necessarily the person with apnea.

From badminton to pickleball to tennis, hitting objects across a net can be a fun, effective way to get in shape.

Looking for an exercise that gets your heart pumping and strengthens muscles in your legs, arms, and core? Tennis and other racquet sports can serve up all those benefits and more. In fact, several long-running studies have linked racquet sports to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a longer life.

"Playing tennis is an amazing workout. And no matter how good you are, you can have fun doing it," says Joe DiVincenzo, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and former competitive tennis player. In general, racquet sports engage muscles throughout your upper and lower body, which challenges your heart. During a match, you do frequent, short bursts of high-intensity activity interspersed with less vigorous movements — a perfect example of interval training. Also known as HIIT (high-intensity interval training), this workout strategy seems to be a good way to boost cardiovascular fitness.

High blood pressure can damage the brain in several ways. Treating this common problem can protect your mind as well as your heart.

High blood pressure seldom causes any symptoms. But over time, the excessive force and friction of blood pushing against the inner walls of the arteries can damage blood vessels throughout the body. And while the biggest threat may be to your heart, your brain can also suffer.

Even slightly elevated blood pressure in middle age has been linked to a 30% higher risk of dementia two decades later. But taking blood pressure drugs may help people avoid that risk, according to a study in the May 19, 2020, issue of JAMA.

Researchers are beginning to better understand if, when, and how to address this condition, which is linked to a newly recognized type of stroke.

In the womb, all fetuses have a foramen ovale (Latin for "oval hole") between the heart's right and left upper chambers (atria). This opening allows blood to take a shortcut within the heart rather than following a longer path through the lungs, which cannot work until they are exposed to air. After birth, when a newborn baby takes his or her first breath, the foramen ovale begins to close. Most of the time, it seals completely within a few months.

But in about a quarter of people, that doesn't happen. This anatomical variation is called a patent foramen ovale (patent means open) or PFO. Most people never know they have it, because a PFO doesn't cause any signs or symptoms. For the most part, the condition is harmless.

Studies of drugs, diets, and devices all come with their own unique set of challenges.

The best way to know if a new medical treatment truly works is with a randomized controlled trial — the "gold standard" of research studies, also known simply as a clinical trial. Volunteers are randomly assigned to receive either the new treatment or the comparison, which may be a placebo (an inactive therapy) or a treatment that's already available.

As the nation's top cause of death, cardiovascular disease has been at the leading edge of evidence generation, says Dr. Robert Yeh, director of the Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "We probably have more evidence for cardiovascular treatments than for any other field of medicine," he says. Among the studies with the greatest impact were the clinical trials that heralded new therapies to treat heart attacks. These include clot-dissolving drugs in the 1980s, followed in the 1990s by artery-opening angioplasty procedures, which remain the standard of care today. Stents, the tiny mesh tubes used in these procedures, have also been extensively studied in clinical trials (see "Testing devices: Different dilemmas").