There is a well-known relationship between good physical fitness at a young age and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. However, when researchers adjusted for familial factors by means of sibling analysis, they found a weaker association, although the link between high body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular disease remained strong. The study, which was … [Read more...]
Cardiovascular Health News
Measuring Long-Term Heart Stress Dynamics with Smartwatch Data
Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a method using data from wearable devices such as smartwatches to digitally mimic an entire week's worth of an individual's heartbeats. The previous record covered only a few minutes. Called the Longitudinal Hemodynamic Mapping Framework (LHMF), the approach creates "digital twins" of a specific patient's blood flow to … [Read more...]
Not Getting Enough Sleep? Your Vascular Cells are Drowning in Oxidants
Does this sound like you? You wake up at the same time each morning, get the kids out the door, and rush to catch the subway to work. But at night, maybe you stay up until midnight doing laundry or 1 a.m. to catch up on the bills. Lots of Americans -- about one-third of us -- are in the same situation and habitually get only five to six hours of sleep instead of the … [Read more...]
Increasing Steps by 3,000 Per Day can Lower Blood Pressure in Older Adults
A new study including Linda Pescatello, distinguished professor of kinesiology in UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, found that adding a relatively minimal amount of movement, about 3,000 steps per day, can significantly reduce high blood pressure in older adults. Pescatello worked with Elizabeth Lefferts, the lead author of the paper, Duck-chun … [Read more...]
Cold Weather may Pose Challenges to Treating High Blood Pressure
According to the American Heart Association's 2023 Statistical Update, nearly half of adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure. Previous research found that blood pressure varies with the seasons of the year. Most of this variation is in systolic blood pressure -- the top number in a blood pressure reading that gauges the pressure in/against blood vessels during heartbeats. … [Read more...]
Prescription For Fruits, Vegetables Linked to Better Heart Health, Food Security
Produce prescription programs enable doctors to prescribe fruits and vegetables in addition to medications. Patients receive electronic cards or vouchers to access free or discounted produce of their choice at retail grocery or farmers' markets, explained study lead author Kurt Hager, Ph.D., M.S., an instructor at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, … [Read more...]
Drug to Target Form of Previously Untreatable Life-Threatening “Bad Cholesterol”
A new drug offers a breakthrough world first treatment for Lipoprotein(a), a largely genetic form of cholesterol that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, announced today by study lead Professor Stephen Nicholls, Director of the Monash University's Victorian Heart Institute and Victorian Heart Hospital. High levels of Lipoprotein(a), known as Lp(a) or spoken as … [Read more...]
AI to Predict your health later in life — all at the press of a button
Thanks to artificial intelligence, we will soon be able to predict our risk of developing serious health conditions later in life, at the press of a button. Abdominal aortic calcification, or AAC, is a calcification which can build up within the walls of the abdominal aorta and predicts your risk of developing cardiovascular disease events such as heart attacks and … [Read more...]
How The Flu Virus Hacks Our Cells
Influenza viruses represent a major risk to human and animal health. Their potential for mutation makes them particularly elusive. ''We already knew that the influenza A virus binds to sugar structures on the cell surface, then rolls along the cell surface until it finds a suitable entry point into the host cell. However, we did not know which proteins on the host cell surface … [Read more...]
Women Twice as Likely to Be Re-hospitalized After Heart Attack
Women under 55 are twice as likely as men to be hospitalized again within a year after a heart attack, the National Institutes of Health reported this week. The NIH said in a news release that the disparity is likely the result of higher rates of obesity, heart failure, depression and other risk factors among women. The study was paid for by the National Heart, Lung, and … [Read more...]
Non-Biological Factors and Social Determinants of Health Important in Women’s CVD Risk Assessment
"Risk assessment is the first step in preventing heart disease, yet there are many limitations to traditional risk factors and their ability to comprehensively estimate a woman's risk for cardiovascular disease," said Jennifer H. Mieres, M.D., FAHA, vice chair of the scientific statement writing committee and a professor of cardiology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra … [Read more...]
Does The Risk of Stroke From Common Risk Factors Change as People age?
"High blood pressure and diabetes are two important risk factors for stroke that can be managed by medication, decreasing a person's risk," said study author George Howard, DrPH, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. "Our findings show that their association with stroke risk may be substantially less at older ages, yet other risk factors do not … [Read more...]
Black tea (and other favorites) may help your health later in life
A daily cup of tea could help you to enjoy better health late in life -- however if you're not a tea drinker, there are other things you can add to your diet. The key is flavonoids, which are naturally occurring substances found in many common foods and beverages such as black and green tea, apples, nuts, citrus fruit, berries and more. They have long been known to have … [Read more...]
Which Grains you Eat can Impact Your Risk of Getting Heart Disease Earlier
In one of the first studies to examine the relationship between different types of grain intake and premature coronary artery disease in the Middle East, researchers found a higher intake of refined grain was associated with an increased risk of premature coronary artery disease in an Iranian population, while eating whole grains was associated with reduced risk. The study will … [Read more...]
New Survey: 91% of Parents Say their family is less stressed when they eat together
Chronic, constant stress can increase lifetime risk of heart disease and stroke, but a new survey from the American Heart Association, a global force for longer, healthier lives for all, reveals regular mealtime with others could be a simple solution to help manage stress. Of the 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide surveyed in September 2022 for the American Heart Association's … [Read more...]
Better Screening Could Predict and Prevent Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People
Nearly nine in ten cases of sudden cardiac death (SCD) due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in young people are preceded by symptoms, ECG abnormalities or a positive family history, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Erik Börjesson of Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden, and colleagues. Those findings suggest that … [Read more...]
Benefits of Statin Therapy Highlighted
Stopping statin treatment early could substantially reduce lifetime protection against heart disease since a large share of the benefit occurs later in life. That's the finding of a modelling study presented at ESC Congress 2022.1 Lead author Dr. Runguo Wu of Queen Mary University of London, UK said: "The study indicates that people in their 40s with a high likelihood of … [Read more...]
Daily Avocados Improve Diet Quality, Help Lower Cholesterol Levels, Study Finds
Eating one avocado a day for six months was found to have no effect on belly fat, liver fat or waist circumference in people with overweight or obesity, according to a new study. However, it did lead to a slight decrease in unhealthy cholesterol levels. In the randomized trial, the team -- including Penn State researchers -- also found that participants who ate avocados had … [Read more...]
About 3 Grams a Day of Omega-3 Fatty Acids may Lower Blood Pressure, More Research Needed
About 3 grams daily of omega-3 fatty acids, consumed in foods or supplements, appears to be the optimal daily dose to help lower blood pressure, according to a research review published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association. Omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and … [Read more...]
Obesity Significantly Increased Heart Failure Risk Among Women with Late Menopause
A woman's body produces less estrogen and progesterone after menopause, changes that can increase the risk for cardiovascular diseases including heart failure, according to the American Heart Association. Menopause typically occurs between the age of 45 and 55, however, the average age for natural menopause has increased by 1.5 years over the past six decades, according to some … [Read more...]
Exercise Holds Even More Heart Health Benefits for People with Stress-Related Conditions
The research findings add to mounting evidence that exercise improves cardiovascular health by helping to activate parts of the brain that counteract stress. Overall, the study found that people who achieved the recommended amount of physical activity per week were 17% less likely to suffer a major adverse cardiovascular event than those who exercised less. These benefits were … [Read more...]
COVID-19 Infection Linked to Higher Risk of Neuropathy
In a study of more than 1,500 people who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 during the first year of the pandemic, the researchers found that those who tested positive for the virus were about three times more likely to report pain, numbness or tingling in their hands and feet as those with negative tests. The findings are reported online March 24 in the journal Pain. "Several … [Read more...]
Only Alcohol — Not Caffeine, Diet or Lack of Sleep — Might Trigger Heart Rhythm Condition
New research from UC San Francisco that tested possible triggers of a common heart condition, including caffeine, sleep deprivation and sleeping on the left side, found that only alcohol use was consistently associated with more episodes of the heart arrhythmia. The authors conclude that people might be able to reduce their risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) by avoiding … [Read more...]
Night Shift Work is linked to Increased Risk of Heart Problems
People who work night shifts are at increased risk of developing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation (AF), according to research published in the European Heart Journal. The study is the first to investigate the links between night shift work and AF. Using information from 283,657 people in the UK Biobank database, researchers found … [Read more...]
Blood Clotting may be the Root Cause of Long COVID Syndrome, Research Shows
New evidence shows that patients with Long COVID syndrome continue to have higher measures of blood clotting, which may help explain their persistent symptoms, such as reduced physical fitness and fatigue. The study, led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Previous work by the same … [Read more...]
Soft Skin Patch could Provide Early Warning for Strokes, Heart Attacks
Engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a soft and stretchy ultrasound patch that can be worn on the skin to monitor blood flow through major arteries and veins deep inside a person's body. Knowing how fast and how much blood flows through a patient's blood vessels is important because it can help clinicians diagnose various cardiovascular conditions, … [Read more...]
The Southern Diet – Fried Foods and Sugary Drinks – May Raise Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death
Regularly eating a Southern-style diet may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death, while routinely consuming a Mediterranean diet may reduce that risk, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. The Southern diet is characterized by added fats, fried foods, eggs, … [Read more...]
Map of Metabolic Changes after Heart Attack Holds Clues to Recovery
Researchers have mapped out the changes in metabolism that occur after a heart attack, publishing their findings today in the open-access eLife journal. Their study in mice reveals certain genes and metabolic processes that could aid or hinder recovery, and might be good targets for treatments to prevent damage after a heart attack. "Although some studies have looked at … [Read more...]
More Belly Weight Increases Danger of Heart Disease even if BMI does not Indicate Obesity
People with abdominal obesity and excess fat around the body's mid-section and organs have an increased risk of heart disease even if their body mass index (BMI) measurement is within a healthy weight range, according to a new Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association published today in the Association's flagship journal, Circulation. "This scientific … [Read more...]
The right ‘5-a-day’ mix is 2 fruit and 3 vegetable servings for longer life
Studies representing nearly 2 million adults worldwide show that eating about five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, in which 2 are fruits and 3 are vegetables, is likely the optimal amount for a longer life, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables help reduce … [Read more...]
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