Heart Health Archive

Red wine contains compounds thought to lower heart disease risk. But the evidence that wine protects the heart is muddled.

Have you ever topped off your glass of cabernet or pinot noir while saying, "Hey, it's good for my heart, right?" This widely held impression dates back to a catchphrase coined in the late 1980s: the French Paradox.

The French Paradox refers to the notion that drinking wine may explain the relatively low rates of heart disease among the French, despite their fondness for cheese and other rich, fatty foods. This theory helped spur the discovery of a host of beneficial plant compounds known as polyphenols. Found in red and purple grape skins (as well as many other fruits, vegetables, and nuts), polyphenols purportedly explain wine's heart-protecting properties. Another argument stems from the fact that the Mediterranean diet, an eating pattern shown to ward off heart attacks and strokes, features red wine.

The new guidelines set a lower target and emphasize lifestyle changes. Here's why eating less salt is important.

High blood pressure — a major cause of heart attack and stroke — recently became far more prevalent in the United States, but not because people have become suddenly less healthy. Last fall, new guidelines lowered the threshold for diagnosing the condition, which used to be defined as a blood pressure reading of 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or higher. Now, anyone with a reading of 130/80 mm Hg or higher is considered to have high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). Nearly half of adults now fall into this group.

Many cardiologists welcomed the updated guidelines, published in the Nov. 7, 2017, Journal of the American College of Cardiology. "The new guidelines are based upon a growing body of evidence that lower blood pressure values are associated with fewer major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure," says Dr. Randall Zusman, a hypertension expert at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Over all, people with Stage 1 hypertension (see "Blood pressure categories") have double the risk of those events compared with people who have normal blood pressure.

This easy, stress-relieving exercise may help heal your heart.

If you have a heart attack or undergo stenting, improving your cardiovascular health should be a top priority. A great way to move toward that goal is to enroll in cardiac rehabilitation, a multiweek program of structured exercise paired with lifestyle and nutrition education.

Unfortunately, not all doctors refer their patients to such a program, which is recommended for a number of conditions, including most heart surgeries. Also, for a range of reasons, more than 60% of eligible people choose not to attend cardiac rehab. Sometimes travel and cost issues are barriers. But others worry that the exercise component of the program will be too difficult or tiring. For them, the ancient Chinese practice of tai chi may be a good alternative, according to a small study in the Oct. 11, 2017, Journal of the American Heart Association.

A study questioned the benefit of stents for some heart patients. What does this mean for people with chest pain?

Last fall, many news outlets highlighted a study suggesting that a common heart procedure — inserting a stent to open a narrowed heart artery — was no better than a sham procedure (see "Stent vs. sham: A short summary"). But the big picture isn't quite so simple.

For instance, it's worth noting that six weeks prior to undergoing the procedures, all of the 200 people who completed the study were prescribed increasing doses of heart medications. Referred to as optimal medical therapy, this approach is a proven strategy for treating chest pain brought on by physical activity or emotional stress that promptly goes away with rest or nitroglycerin (so-called stable angina).

Lifestyle changes are vital, but new medications may help.

 a_namenko; © Halfpoint | Thinkstock; zaretskaya | GettyImages

Two of the most prevalent health problems in this country — type 2 diabetes and heart disease — are closely linked. People with diabetes are more than twice as likely to die from heart disease than those without diabetes. An array of overlapping risk factors (such as being overweight and having high blood pressure and cholesterol levels) probably explains part of this association.

On the plus side, a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats, coupled with regular moderate exercise (at least 30 minutes daily, most days of the week) can help people dodge the dangers associated with both heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Even so, most people with type 2 diabetes must also take the drug metformin (or other medications) to help reduce their high blood sugar levels, the hallmark of the disease.

Research we're watching

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Adding a little extra spice to your food may help you eat less salt, according to a study in the December 2017 issue of Hypertension. A salty diet may raise your risk of high blood pressure, leaving you more prone to heart attack and stroke.

For the study, Chinese researchers recruited 606 people and determined their preferences for salty and spicy foods, in part by asking how often they ate foods such as salted fried pork and pickled Chinese cabbage.

Research we're watching

A canine companion provides unconditional love and encourages extra exercise. Could those benefits explain why dog owners are less likely to die of heart disease than people without dogs? Maybe, say the authors of the largest-ever study of dog ownership and human health, published online Nov. 17, 2017, by Scientific Reports.

The 12-year study included over 3.4 million Swedish adults ages 40 to 80. Using data from national health sources and dog ownership registries, researchers found that dog owners had a lower risk of death due to heart disease.

Research we're watching

The pain relievers known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) help ease the ache of arthritis. But taking these pills regularly can increase blood pressure and worsen heart disease. Now, new research suggests that topical NSAIDs (available by prescription in gel form) may pose less risk than the pills.

Researchers tracked heart attacks, strokes, and other heart-related problems in more than 46,000 people with rheumatoid arthritis over a nine-year period. People who used topical NSAIDs (even those who already had heart disease) had fewer of these cardiovascular events than those who took oral NSAIDs, according to the study, published in the Oct. 27, 2017, Journal of the American Heart Association.

Research suggests a regular meditation practice could protect against heart disease. Here's how to begin one.

 Image: © Wavebreakmedia Ltd/Thinkstock

What's good for the mind also tends to be good for the heart.

The mind-calming practice of meditation may play a role in reducing your risk of heart disease, according to a scientific statement published in the Sept. 28, 2017, Journal of the American Heart Association.