Heart Health Archive

Health insurance companies sometimes require prior authorization for new, expensive medications. The high price patients pay for these drugs is related to complexities in health insurance coverage.

Intermittent fasting may help people lose weight and improve their cholesterol levels and other heart-related risks. One form of intermittent fasting is time-restricted eating, during which people eat only during a certain time window (usually eight hours) each day. Another approach, alternate-day fasting, involves fasting or significantly limiting calories for one or two days per week. But it's hard to maintain over the long run due to the challenges of following a strict eating schedule while juggling various work, family, and social commitments.

A 2024 study suggests using cannabis weekly may be associated with an increase in people's risks of heart attack and stroke, and the risks rise dramatically with more frequent use.

Cardiac rehabilitation, a personalized program of supervised exercise and heart-healthy lifestyle coaching, helps people recover from heart-related problems, including stable angina, heart attack, heart surgery, and stable heart failure. A 12-week program helps people regain their stamina, enabling them to resume their favorite activities, and may also lessen stress and depression. Cardiac rehab is also proven to lower the risk of future heart-related illness and hospitalization and may help people live longer.

Physical activity lowers cardiovascular disease risk in part by reducing stress-related activity in the brain, according to a 2024 study.

A 2024 study found that people with microplastics in the plaque clogging their neck arteries were about four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people with plastic-free plaque.

People with atrial fibrillation (afib) worry that drinking alcohol or caffeine might trigger a flare-up of the condition. Afib is characterized by erratic beating of the heart's two upper chambers. The chambers quiver, causing blood to pool and sometimes form clots, which can cause a heart attack or stroke. Evidence strongly suggests that drinking alcohol can cause a flare-up of afib. Drinking caffeine in usual amounts does not increase that risk. However, doctors note that people who are especially sensitive to caffeine should avoid it.

In addition to the Mediterranean diet, other European eating patterns-namely, the Nordic diet and the Atlantic diet-feature heart-healthy fare. All three diets feature seafood, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, with an emphasis on seasonal and local foods. Such foods also support environmental health and sustainability. People in the United States can follow this trend by shopping at a farmer's market or joining a community-supported agriculture program.

High-dose niacin (vitamin B₃) is no longer recommended to improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Different forms of niacin, such as niacinamide (nicotinamide), are sold as supplements; the potential benefits and risks remain unclear.