Heart Attack Archive

Otherwise healthy men treated with prescription drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction had a lower risk of heart attacks, strokes, or death from heart-related causes.

A coronary artery calcium scan (often called a calcium scan) uses a special type of CT scan to look for calcium deposits in the lining of the heart’s arteries. The results can help people decide whether to start taking a statin.

A 2022 observational study that included more than 200,000 people found that those who’d had shingles at some point had a 30% higher long-term risk for a major cardiovascular event, compared with people who didn’t have shingles.

Sometimes people miss the symptoms of life-threatening conditions such as a heart attack, a stroke, atrial fibrillation, or a pulmonary embolism. To detect the warning signs, people should pay attention to sudden, new symptoms, especially if they include shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, lightheadedness, confusion, weakness, fatigue, fainting, or a terrible headache. Someone experiencing any of these symptoms should call 911. If symptoms aren’t sudden or intense, and people aren’t sure if they warrant emergency help, they should call their doctor.

Some people who take the anti-clotting drug warfarin (Coumadin) may not need to take low-dose aspirin. Stopping unneeded aspirin use may prevent dangerous bleeding.

When a person's heart stops beating and they go into cardiac arrest, receiving CPR can double their odds of surviving. And since the majority of cardiac arrests happen at home, knowing the basics of CPR may save the life of a loved one.

A new study suggests that older adults who maintain an high level functional fitness have a lower their risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke compared with those who are not as fit.

Gout strikes when too much uric acid builds up in the body and triggers severe pain, swelling, and redness in one or more joints, often in the big toe. New research suggests that an episode may increase the risk for a heart attack or stroke over the following two months.

For heart attack survivors, taking a polypill that contains a blood pressure drug, a cholesterol-lowering statin, and low-dose aspirin may help prevent more future heart attacks and serious heart problems than usual care that includes several separate drugs.

Wintertime can pose challenges to cardiovascular health. Cold temperatures can cause arteries to narrow, which can leave people with heart disease vulnerable to angina or heart attacks, especially during physical exertion. Changes in sleep, eating, and exercise habits related to the season may also affect the heart. Crowded indoor gatherings also raise a person’s risk for respiratory infections, which can exacerbate heart disease.