As a consumer, you probably see "heart healthy" labels on food items all the time. But do you really know what heart health means and why it's important?
Experts from Tufts University in Boston offer some details on how your heart works and how you can safeguard your hea...
For sufferers of sleep apnea, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines may guard against having a second heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular crisis, but they have to use it consistently, a new study finds.
CPAP works by keeping your airways open duri...
Good news for couch potatoes -- bursts of activity as short as one to three minutes in duration can prompt a steep decrease in the risk of heart attack, stroke and early death, a new study reports.
New research shows the COVID-19 virus can directly infect coronary arteries, inflaming fatty plaque inside them, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
This may explain why some people who get COVID-19 have a greater chance of developing heart disease. ...
People who abuse marijuana may be setting themselves up for heart problems down the road, Canadian researchers report.
The new study found that people with so-called cannabis use disorder may have a 60% higher risk for a heart attack, stroke or other major heart-related ...
Exposure to air pollution, even for just a short time, drives up your risk of having a stroke over the next few days, new research warns.
That conclusion stems from a review of 110 studies conducted across Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Depending on the specific n...
Substance abuse and pregnancy may be a dangerous combination.
New research finds that pregnant women with a history of substance abuse had a dramatically increased risk of death from heart attack and stroke during childbirth compared to women with no drug history.
...
Before pouring another drink, consider this sobering new research: Heavy drinkers can develop fat around the heart, leading to heart failure and other cardiac problems.
This so-called pericardial fat is associated with increased risk of heart disease.
Researc...
The American Stroke Association is promoting the acronym R.Ã.P.I.D.O. as a way to raise awareness among Hispanic Americans about stroke symptoms and the need for quick action.
Every second counts when someone has had a stroke, the association (ASA) points out. Calling...
Any head injury -- even a mild one -- raises a person's risk of later having an ischemic stroke.
Having multiple injuries increases that risk, even more so than the severity of a single traumatic brain injury (TBI), researchers report.
"Our study found that those ...
It's possible that the cause of spontaneous, recurring brain hemorrhages can be passed through blood transfusion, researchers say.
The likelihood of this happening is very slim, however.
Still, "blood transfusions are relatively common, which makes possible negati...
Caregiving has been part of MarÃa Aranda's life since she was a young girl, when her Puerto Rican grandmother and namesake lived with her family in the Los Angeles area. She remembers watching her mother and other family members care for her grandmother for years before she...
Scientists have spotted an elevated risk of stroke in women who became pregnant after fertility treatments.
Although the absolute number of strokes reported in the new study<...
Postmenopausal women who are stressed, depressed or have trouble sleeping may face an increased risk of a common heart rhythm disorder, new research suggests.
The study, of nearly 84,000 women over the age of 50, found that certain psychological factors were linked to t...
Taking cholesterol-lowering statin medication after a bleeding stroke, or intracerebral hemorrhage, may lower the risk of a subsequent stroke caused by a blood clot, according to new research.
"Previous research has had mixed results on the risk of stroke ...
Radio announcer and producer Karen Moyer was exhausted after putting in long days on the air at Dallas' classical radio station WRR over Labor Day weekend.
Sunday was the station's Picnic In The Park at the Dallas Arboretum. Moyer, an accomplished singer, sang "The Star-...
Fantasy sports are full of contrasts. They use stats from real athletes to build make-believe teams. They fuel both casual fun with friends and a seriously lucrative industry.
And while nobody is saying that sitting and staring at screens is great for you, experts who kn...
After a heart attack, elderly adults have better odds for improved health and survival if all major heart vessels are cleared, not just the one that caused the heart attack.
Because these patients often have other medical conditions and may be frail, doctors frequen...
Patti Allbritton was born a little blue.
She wasn't particularly sad -- it wasn't that kind of blue. She was born with a rare congenital heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia, in which the valve that's supposed to control blood flow from her hear...
For more than half a century, scientists have debated the role of dietary cholesterol in a healthy diet. Because it was often associated with saturated fat, limiting dietary cholesterol -- especially by restricting egg consumption -- seemed to benefit heart-health efforts.
...Holly Page was having a great day. She got her hair done, then enjoyed a long dinner catching up with friend Lisa Stillings. They were walking out of the restaurant when something strange happened.
Page tried to speak but couldn't.
"When I got under a streetlight, ...
Patricia Guevara enjoys doing things with her 5-year-old daughter, Miranda, especially painting and drawing and taking an occasional walk in the park.
After a promotora, or community health worker, stopped by their Pittsburgh-area home, their lives became more active.
As a Japanese American girl growing up in Irvine, California, Marisa Hamamoto felt like an outsider in her predominantly white community. Her schoolmates picked on her because she looked different. She wasn't one of them.
But when she entered the dance studio, everything...
Children need to get up off the sofa and move more, according to a new study that linked childhood sitting time with heart damage in young adulthood.
That was true even when the adult's blood pressure and weight were healthy, according to researchers.
"All those h...
People can help reduce their odds of developing atrial fibrillation or stroke through one piece of standard medical advice: stay fit.
According to a new study in 15,000 people, physical fitness was found to have a lower likelihood of these conditions. The findings will b...
When people suffering a stroke need a transfer to another hospital, time is of the essence. But a new study finds that most Americans in that situation face delays.
Levan Singletary's alarm buzzed at 5:15 a.m., telling him to move the car for street sweeping.
It was dark when Singletary, who goes by "Van," left the apartment he shares with his wife, Angela. They live in Aliso Viejo, California, near Laguna Beach. He trotted down the...
Five days after giving birth to her second child, Lauren Lowrey woke up with a sharp pain in her upper back. She couldn't draw in a deep breath.
The TV news anchor, who was living in Indianapolis at the time, was recovering from a delivery via cesarean section. But her s...
Researchers have long understood that people with chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, are at increased risk for depression. The same may be true for people with COVID-19 symptoms that linger for months and sometimes years.
An estimated 28% of U.S. adults wh...
After a seven-hour drive back home with his family to Woodbury, Minnesota, Dave Ogle planned to do what he always did: haul his suitcases upstairs to unpack and do laundry.
"Dave, please, let's just relax and leave it for tomorrow," said his wife, Kris Patrow.
He r...
What researchers call 'social factors' are largely responsible for Black Americans having a greater risk of death from heart disease than whites, according to a new study.
Among the social factors that contribute to this racial disparity are unemployment, low income, lac...
Sure, the end of summer vacation makes many kids groan. But many will also be cheering the return of fall sports. That's a good thing, experts say.
Exercise habits form early and pay off for life, said Dr. Benjamin Levine, director of the Institute for Exercise and Envir...
Traditionally, many decisions about medical treatment were left up to doctors: They decided, and patients agreed.
Today, health care professionals are embracing the idea of shared decision-making, where patients become informed partners in their choices. A new report fro...
If you get cross-eyed thinking about carbohydrates, that's understandable.
They can be, quite literally, both simple and complex. They abound in snacks that nobody would call healthy but also appear in foods considered essential to good health.
"It gets a little co...
Any parent knows that back-to-school season can turn into one of the busiest times of the year. As a medical professional whose many roles include being a parent to two adolescents, Dr. Natalie Muth might know more than most.
Muth is a pediatrician and registered dietiti...
A large clinical trial weighing the medical merits of the obesity drug Wegovy has unearthed a significant positive side effect.
Taking the medication cut the risk of serious heart problems by 20%, drug maker Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday.
"People living with obesi...
Donnese Tyler's schedule was chock-full. With a husband, two sons, a demanding job in contracts management and a reluctance to say no to anyone, she rarely made time for herself.
On an errand-filled Wednesday last October, she was looking forward to the monthly meeting o...
Fatal heart disease in the United States dropped about 4% a year between 1990 and 2019, but Americans need to quit smoking, drinking and overeating or those gains could be wiped out, according to new research.
The declining rates of fatal heart disease have stalled, acco...
Rekha Desai planned to play Legos and blocks with her 2-year-old grandson, Kaveh, as she watched him in his Atlanta home.
But Rekha never arrived. Instead, the 73-year-old lay in a gurney thousands of feet in the air after having a stroke.
A helicopter raced Rekha ...
Covered in menacing needlelike spines, the prickly pear cactus demands to be treated with care. In return, it will reward you with a juicy neon fruit and fleshy green pads that have nourished people for millennia.
While the spines that protect the plant from predators ca...
Since she was a child, Yanela Vickers has loved babies and the medical field. She dreamed of going into obstetrics and gynecology.
Instead, Yanela got a close look at the profession as a patient. She was 18 and five months pregnant when she walked across the stage to col...
They say home is where the heart is. But can a person's home also play a role in how healthy that heart is?
A large body of research suggests it can. Experts say housing -- where homes are located and if a person has one at all -- can make a major contribution to cardiov...
Hal Harbuck was walking from the dock to his family's lake cabin when he felt a severe pain in his chest. Having recently been water skiing, he wondered if he'd pulled a muscle. Then again, it also felt like the worst heartburn he'd ever felt.
He eventually realized he m...
Sleep apnea may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke as erratic breathing causes oxygen levels to drop, new research shows.
"These findings will help better characterize high-risk versions of obstructive sleep apnea," said co-author
Black people tend to be more vulnerable to suffering severe strokes, but scientists have long struggled to figure out why.
Until now: New research suggests it may boil down to having a particular version of a gene involved in clotting.
"This could potentially chang...
Venting -- the release of negative, pent-up emotions -- can feel good. But is it actually good for you? Or does it do more harm than good to dwell on negative thoughts and feelings?
Experts say that depends on a number of factors, including who's on the receiving end of ...
For years, older adults took a baby aspirin a day to help ward off a first-time heart attack or stroke. Now yet another study is showing the risks are not worth it for most.
Specifically, researchers found the risk of brain bleeding while using low-dose aspirin outweighe...
Late one evening, Dawn Berry took a call from her grandmother's nursing home. Her grandmother had been found unresponsive in bed. What should they do?
Dawn, who was then 43, had worked in the medical field for more than 20 years in her hometown of Oklahoma City. When her...
Few people know more about stroke prevention and brain health than neurologist and epidemiologist Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele. And one of the first things he'd like you to know is that you have a "tremendous" amount of control over your own stroke risk.
Most strokes are preventa...
New guidelines detailing how to care for people with heart disease come with some easy-to-grasp warnings for patients.
The chronic coronary disease guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, published Thursday in the AHA journal Ci...