Heart Health Archive

Higher intake of saturated fats is associated with a 24% greater risk of coronary artery disease. Replacing 1% of those fats with the same amount of calories from unsaturated fats, whole grains, or plant proteins appears to reduce the risk of coronary artery disease.

Cardiovascular disease in women isn't identical to that in men. Understanding the differences can help you prevent or minimize the effects of a heart attack.

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Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women, but women's heart disease hasn't captured the popular imagination the way men's has. Although you can probably recall a movie in which a man collapsed with a heart attack, you're unlikely to remember a similar scene starring a woman. That may be because women develop heart disease about 10 years later than men do. While men are most likely to have a first heart attack around age 65, a woman's first heart attack occurs at an average age of 71. Moreover, heart disease doesn't become the leading cause of death for women until age 85.

If heart disease comes to women so late in life, why should we be concerned about it when we're younger?

In a large, long-term clinical trial, people taking the diuretic chlorthalidone had significantly fewer hip fractures than those taking the calcium-channel blocker amlodipine or the ACE inhibitor lisinopril.

In a large United Kingdom study, regularly practicing racket sports, swimming, or aerobics significantly reduced the risk of dying over eight to 13 years. 

New, improved devices and apps may better guide you to exercise at the right intensity to help your heart.

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Perhaps the best-known problem with fitness trackers is that people often retire them to a junk drawer after a few months, once the novelty of using them wears off. But that's not the only shortcoming with these devices, which are typically worn around the wrist or clipped to clothing.

Sure, they'll count your steps, display your heart rate, and even estimate how many calories you've burned—although you'll probably need to sync your tracker with an app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer to see these data. However, very few of the popular free apps of this type are grounded in published evidence. And they don't necessarily follow well-established exercise guidelines. Even if you do meet recommended daily exercise goals—like 30 minutes of brisk walking or 10,000 steps—how do you know if you're really working your heart enough to keep it healthy? And what if you've been sedentary for years or have a chronic medical condition—can an app help you exercise safely?

Most people with atrial fibrillation take anti-clotting drugs to prevent strokes. For those who cannot take these drugs because of a high risk of bleeding, a tiny, basket-like device implanted in the part of the heart that traps clots may be an alternative. 

Despite new research, the answer is unclear. Use caution when taking any pain medication on a routine basis.

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People with aching joints from arthritis—which affects nearly one in four adults—often rely on drugs known as NSAIDs to ease the pain of this often-debilitating condition. These popular medications also relieve headaches, cool fevers, and dampen inflammation. But with the exception of aspirin, most NSAIDs pose a risk to the cardiovascular system, notes Harvard professor Dr. Elliott Antman, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

"Taking NSAIDs routinely over a long time period can raise the risk of blood clots, increase blood pressure, and accelerate cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Antman. While the danger is greatest in people with heart disease, it's also present in people without any signs of the disease.

Ongoing studies seek new ways to treat microvascular disease, which can be tricky to diagnose.

Three main arteries, each no bigger than a strand of thin spaghetti, stretch across the surface of your heart. Each branches into progressively smaller and smaller vessels that eventually penetrate your heart muscle. Damage to these tiny vessels can diminish blood flow to the heart—a condition known as coronary microvascular disease.

The symptoms include chest pain or shortness of breath, as well as diffuse chest discomfort or unusual exhaustion. Sound familiar? These symptoms are similar and often just as debilitating as those from classic coronary artery disease, which results from a buildup of cholesterol-laden plaque inside the heart's larger vessels. But unlike that more common manifestation of heart disease, microvascular disease is much more difficult to diagnose.

There's no good evidence that taking calcium supplements can harm your heart. Still, it's best to get this mineral from foods, not pills.

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For decades, doctors have encouraged people to consume plenty of calcium, a mineral best known for building strong bones. About 43% of people in the United States, including close to 70% of older women, take supplements that contain calcium. Concern about osteoporosis—the bone-weakening disease that leaves older adults prone to fracturing a hip, wrist, or other bone—has driven this trend.

Calcium also keeps your muscles, nerves, and blood vessels working well, and it's one of the key minerals involved in blood pressure control. With regard to heart disease, though, there's one potentially confusing aspect of the calcium story. A test researchers often use to look for early signs of heart disease is known as a coronary artery calcium (CAC) scan (see "Seeing calcium specks inside arteries"). There's no direct connection between the calcium you consume and the amount in your arteries. But in recent years, several studies have observed a link between the use of calcium supplements and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Lifestyle habits such as not smoking, avoiding obesity, exercising, and following a healthy diet may cut a person’s risk of heart disease in half, even if they have genes that put them at a high risk of cardiovascular disease.