Heart Health

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• Antidepressant Found to Help Heart Condition: Study
  Use of the antidepressant Lexapro appears to help prevent a potentially serious stress-related heart condition, a new study finds.The condition is known as known as mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia. Although people with this condition may not develop noticeable...
• Should You Exercise With a Defibrillator?
  Although people with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are often advised to avoid activities more strenuous than golf or bowling, new research suggests that many people with these heart devices can participate in more vigorous sports. But, the decision to...
• Having a Heart Attack? There’s an App for That
  There are apps that turn your smartphone into a metal detector and a GPS system, and now there's an app that may help doctors save your life if you're having a heart attack.
• Smartphone Can Raise Blood Pressure: Study
  Forget salt and hot movie stars. New research into what raises blood pressure has found a surprising culprit that may contribute to hypertension: smartphone use.
• Popular Statin Found to Cut Exercise Benefits
  New research shows a popular cholesterol-lowering drug, typically prescribed to prevent heart disease, may actually hinder the positive benefits of exercise among obese and overweight adults.
• Heart Attacks Often Happen Within 2 Hours of Temper Tantrum: Study
  Bottling up emotions is thought to harm both mind and body, but a new study suggests that the opposite extreme may be no better. In a study of thousands of heart attack patients, those who recalled having flown into a rage during the previous year were more than twice as...
• Healthy Lifestyle Offsets Job-Related Heart Risk
  Job stress can boost your risk of heart disease, but a new study finds that living a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce that risk. To reach their findings, researchers analyzed data from more than 102,000 adults, aged 17 to 70, in the UK, France, Belgium, Sweden...
• Hysterectomy Doesn't Hike Heart Risk: Study
  Despite evidence suggesting that women whose uterus has been removed may be more likely to experience heart troubles, a new study finds that the usual signs of heart disease risk are not more severe in middle-aged women after hysterectomy. After following more than 3,000...
• Study Questions Value of Cutting Salt Sharply in Diet
  In a surprising new report, the Institute of Medicine said there's no evidence that cutting well below recommended salt guidelines offers any benefit.
• New Research Explains Statin-Caused Memory Loss
  University of Arizona researchers have discovered why cholesterol-lowering drugs sometimes produce temporary memory loss,which could point the way to alleviating the problem.
• Gene Mutations Explain Many Heart Defects: Study
  At least 10 percent of severe genetic heart defects are caused by new gene mutations that were not passed down from patients' parents, a new study finds. Congenital heart disease is the most common form of birth defect and occurs in nearly 1 percent of newborns. These...
• Estrogen Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death
  Higher levels of the hormone estrogen are associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death in men and women, a new study suggests. Sudden cardiac death can occur when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating (sudden cardiac arrest). Each year in the United...
• Keep Your iPad Away From Implanted Heart Device
  Sprawled out on the couch, reading the news on your iPad, you'd never think you could be putting yourself at risk. But you might be, if you happen to have an implanted heart device. Magnetic interference could alter the settings and even deactivate the technology of...
• Pet Ownership: Boost for Heart Health
  That four-legged friend of yours may be more than a companion -- he also may be boosting your heart health, experts say. An official statement released Thursday by the American Heart Association says there is evidence that having a pet, particularly a dog, may lower your...
• Everyday Noise Raises Heart Risk
  Even the minor noise that fills everyday life, from the ring of a cell phone to the conversation that follows, may have short-term effects on heart function, a small new study suggests.In the study of 110 adults equipped with portable heart monitors, researchers found that...
• Walnuts Found to Cut Cholesterol, Boost Heart Health
  New research has found consumption of whole walnuts or their extracted oil not only lowers cholesterol, but also cuts cardiovascular risk in other ways.
• Top Heart Doctor: Keep Taking Fish Oil
  A study questioning the role of fish oil in preventing first heart attacks is making headlines but a top cardiologist insists that no one should stop taking the supplement based on the new research. We have a long track record during which fish oil has proven effective, ...
• Sunlight Shown to Stop Heart Attacks: Study
  New research out of the U.K. has found simply exposing skin to sunlight helps to reduce blood pressure, cutting the risk of heart attack, and stroke.
• Top Doc: New Heart Drug All About Corporate Profits
  Amid a hail of publicity, pharmaceutical giant Merck received FDA approval last week for a new cholesterol-lowering drug. But a top cardiologist says he won t be recommending it to his patients. Liptruzet appears to be all about generating profits for Merck, but it doesn...
• FDA Oks Improved Pacemaker
  Medtronic Inc. (MDT) won U.S. regulatory approval for its Viva device used to resynchronize the beating of the heart and reduce hospitalizations for heart failure. The permanently implanted device uses an algorithm to coordinate the heart s 100,000 contractions each day,...
• 7 Simple Steps to Prevent Deadly Blood Clots
  You can reduce your risk of potentially deadly blood clots by following seven simple lifestyle steps, a new study suggests.The study included more than 30,000 people, aged 45 and older, who were followed for nearly five years. The participants' heart health was rated based...
• Can You Tap Your Way to Feeling Less Stressed?
  Wellness celebs Christiane Northrup, Kris Carr, Mark Hyman, and Deepak Chopra have all been touting a New Age healing method that claims to beat stress and anxiety through the simple act of tapping. Author of a new book on the subject, Nick Ortner has been the method's...
• Study: Popular Antibiotic Safe for Healthy Hearts
  The widely used antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax or Zmax) -- under scrutiny recently because it may increase the risk of death for those with existing heart disease -- appears to be safe for young and middle-aged adults without heart problems, according to a large new...
• Gene Therapy Trials Offer Hope for Heart Failure Patients
  British scientists are stepping up clinical tests of gene therapy in a bid to help people with advanced heart failure pump blood more efficiently. Researchers said on Tuesday they planned to enroll patients into two new clinical trials using Mydicar, a gene therapy treatment...
• Gut Bacteria Compound Predicts Heart Risk
  A blood test that assesses levels of a compound produced in the stomach appears to be a strong indicator of whether there will be heart trouble down the road, researchers report. The higher the levels of the compound -- calledtrimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) -- the greater the...

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