Heart Health Archive

Q. I take several medicines to get my blood pressure under control, and they seem to do the job. However, I get dizzy at times. Is there anything I can do, other than stopping my medications?

A. Many people occasionally feel dizzy if they stand up too quickly, and the older you get, the more likely this will happen. When you're lying down or sitting, less blood pressure is needed to send sufficient blood to the brain. But as you stand, the pressure must rise to deliver adequate amounts. If that doesn't happen fast enough, your brain can't function as well as it should, and you feel dizzy. Moving from a lying or seated position to a standing position more slowly usually helps if this is the underlying reason.

With its focus on body, mind, and breath, yoga shows promise for improving heart health.

Experts still advise getting regular blood lipid tests.

In late 2013, when the new national guidelines on managing cholesterol were released, many people wondered how the change would affect blood cholesterol testing. Also known as a lipid profile or lipid panel, the cholesterol test measures several different types of fats (lipids) in your bloodstream.

Apps that track and chart your blood pressure may be useful. But for now, avoid those that use the phone as a measuring tool.

If you're over 65, be sure to follow the latest pneumonia vaccine guidelines.

Each year, about a million people in the United States end up in the hospital with pneumonia, a serious lung infection that can be caused by an array of different viruses, bacteria, and even fungi. New research suggests that older people hospitalized with pneumonia face four times their usual risk of a having a heart attack or stroke or dying of heart disease in the month following the illness.

A portable ultrasound device that detects plaque buildup in arteries may offer a simple, cost-effective way to detect heart disease before it causes any symptoms. A report in the December 2014 Global Heart journal describes findings from a large-scale test of the technology in India, the United States, and Canada.

The innermost layer of an artery's wall (the intima) provides a smooth surface for blood to flow through. The middle layer (the media) contains muscle and elastic fibers that let the vessel expand and contract with each heartbeat. The thicker the intima and the media, the more likely the artery is choked with cholesterol-filled plaque. Using ultrasound, a doctor can easily measure the intima-media thickness in the arteries of the neck and upper leg.

Job strain—defined as having a demanding job in which you have little control—may slightly increase the risk of a stroke. The findings, in the February 2015 Stroke, echo earlier results that show a similar link between heart disease and job strain.

Researchers gleaned the results from 14 different studies that included more than 190,000 men and women from six European countries. Their average age was 42, and the follow-up lasted just over nine years, on average. Job strain was associated with a roughly 20% higher risk of ischemic stroke (the type that occurs when a clot blocks a blood vessel supplying the brain).

If you have high blood pressure, there may be better alternatives.

For most people, there is no advantage to tests that measure cholesterol and triglyceride particle size.

Every so often, a medical advance comes along that rewrites the script for treating a disease or condition. After today’s announcement of impressive results of a new type of cholesterol-lowering drug, that scenario just might happen in the next few years. The results of three clinical trials presented today at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that a class of new drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors can dramatically reduce the amount of harmful LDL cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream and prevent heart attacks, strokes, and other problems related to cholesterol-clogged arteries. The drawbacks are that PCSK9 inhibitors must be given by injection every 2 to 4 weeks, may cause mental confusion or trouble paying attention, and, if approved, will likely be expensive.