Heart Attack Archive

Many people develop high blood pressure during their lifetime. These steps may delay your need to take medicines.

Hypertension, defined as a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mm Hg or above, is the primary risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Additionally, it sets the stage for other serious conditions, such as kidney failure, blood vessel damage, vision loss, and dementia.

Angioplasty can save lives, but it isn't always urgent. For some people, optimal medical therapy makes sense.

Each year, about 600,000 people in the United States undergo an angioplasty to widen a narrowed coronary artery, nearly always with a tiny wire mesh tube (stent) left inside the artery to keep it open. About two-thirds of these procedures are done in people experiencing a potentially life-threatening event—a heart attack or unstable angina, defined as severe, worsening chest pain during exertion or stress, or chest pain that happens at rest.

Enough is enough: stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements." This stark advice, from an editorial in Annals of Internal Medicine, stems from two new studies that found no clear evidence that vitamin and mineral supplements can prevent cardiovascular disease.

In one study, researchers pooled findings from 27 trials of multivitamins or vitamins A, C, or D; folic acid; selenium; or calcium, taken alone or in combinations. Together, the trials included more than 400,000 older people; none had known nutritional deficiencies. Vitamin use did not lower rates of heart disease, cancer, or death over all.

For people at high risk of diabetes who also have (or are prone to) heart disease, a daily walk may lower their risk of cardiovascular events, according to a study in The Lancet.

The findings are based on data from 9,306 people who took part in a larger study to evaluate two medications. Participants were required to follow a low-fat diet, get regular exercise, and track their steps with a pedometer at the beginning of the study (the baseline) and after one year.

Over the past decade, ads touting testosterone therapy to treat low energy and a flagging libido in men have fueled a rapid rise in prescriptions for the hormone. Short-term studies suggest that testosterone therapy boosts bone mass, strength, and sexual function and improves some markers of heart disease risk. But concerns about the long-term safety of testosterone treatment (available as a gel, patch, or shot) linger, particularly after a 2010 study of testosterone in frail, older men was stopped early because of cardiovascular problems among the testosterone users.

Now, findings from a study of 8,700 male veterans with low testosterone add to the concern. Men who used testosterone therapy had a 30% higher risk of heart attack, stroke, or death over a three-year period than men who didn't use testosterone. The men, who were in their early 60s on average, had all undergone a heart imaging test, and most had risk factors for heart problems. Testosterone might boost heart risks by encouraging the formation of dangerous blood clots, say the authors, whose article appeared in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The science leans toward more aggressive use of statin drugs to prevent heart problems, but medication is not a "must do."

Doctors have a new roadmap for preventing heart attacks, strokes, and other harmful outcomes of cardiovascular disease. The guidelines, released by experts with the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology in November 2013, are the first update in more than a decade. "The guidelines provide a simplified approach to reducing cardiovascular risk," says Dr. Joanne Foody, an expert in preventive cardiology at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Guidelines for taking cholesterol-lowering drugs now target overall risk rather than cholesterol values.

Key treatments for both diseases—exercise and medications—demand extra attention and planning

Many people with heart disease—nearly 60%—also deal with painful joint damage due to arthritis. Coping with both conditions together poses some special challenges, especially with regard to exercise and medications.

Your recovery after a heart attack doesn't end when you leave the hospital. To protect your heart over the long term, follow these steps.

Having a heart attack is life-altering experience. More than likely, you'll spend the days and weeks after your discharge from the hospital flooded with new information on your heart health and medical care. You'll also be learning to cope with your identity as a heart attack survivor.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators can prevent sudden cardiac arrest. Now more people can benefit.

Miniature electronic devices called implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) that detect and terminate rapid, irregular beats in the heart's lower chambers (ventricles)—a problem known as ventricular fibrillation—can be a lifesaver for people susceptible to deadly arrhythmias With recent technological advances, these devices are even safer and more available.