Heart Health Archive

Taking supplements that contain high levels of biotin (vitamin B₇) can lead to falsely low or falsely high results on a troponin test, a blood test used to diagnose heart attacks.

For preventing repeat heart attacks, coated aspirin is just as effective as regular aspirin, but it does not appear to provide extra protection against bleeding risk.

Dietary choices can influence weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood sugar levels, all factors that can determine a person's risk for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Adopting certain eating habits can help manage these factors. These include reducing the intake of saturated fat and refined sugar that are included in many processed foods, eating more healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and following a plant-based diet like the Mediterranean or DASH diet.

Palliative care for heart failure aims to improve quality of life for patients and their families by addressing physical symptoms, and also emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual issues. This may include treating anxiety and depression in patients and supporting caregivers, who may be dealing with stress and worry. Palliative care also includes talking with patients about their personal goals and what matters most to them, which can help guide their care as the illness progresses.

Despite statements like "promotes heart health" on the labels of fish oil supplements, multiple randomized trials show no evidence of heart-related benefits from using these products. In addition, manufacturing methods might make the products either useless or even harmful. The supplements do provide omega-3 fatty acids, but people can get these essential fats by eating two servings of fatty fish weekly or following a vegetarian diet rich in healthy oils, nuts, and seeds.

Planks are an isometric exercise, in which the muscles contract but do not move. They are a great way to strengthen muscles in the abdomen, back, legs, shoulders, and arms.

Men who report specific types of job-related stress face a higher risk of heart disease than those without such stress, according to a 2023 study.

For people with chronic coronary disease who do not have symptoms, new guidelines recommend against routine testing with cardiac CT angiography, echocardiography, and stress testing. The results are unhelpful—and in some cases harmful. Unclear results often general additional testing or unnecessary procedures, including some that expose people to radiation for no reason. In addition, the tests add expense without any corresponding benefit, and these costs are increasingly being passed back to patients, in the form of copayments or higher premiums.

People who climb more than five flights of stairs—about 50 steps—daily may lower their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a 2023 study.