Heart Health Archive

Certain foods, such as beans, oats and whole grains, fatty fish, and fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber, can lower "bad" LDL cholesterol.

People whose spouses have high blood pressure may be more likely to have high blood pressure themselves than people whose spouses do not have the condition, according to a 2023 study.

Replacing just five minutes of sitting with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may lead to tangible improvements in cardiovascular health. Adding longer, more intense bouts of exercise can reap greater rewards. But even modest changes such as replacing sitting with standing may lead to positive changes in health parameters, including improvements in body mass index, waist circumference, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels.

Treatments for angina include medications to lower LDL cholesterol to very low levels to help reduce artery-narrowing plaque. Drugs that slow the heart rate and widen arteries can improve symptoms.

Calcium deposits in the coronary arteries surrounding the heart may be a sign of fatty plaque buildup in arteries. Dietary calcium is not a cause of these calcium deposits. While people can't reverse the effect of calcium deposits, they can slow the process by managing blood pressure and "bad" LDL cholesterol.

A 2023 study suggests that moving, standing, or even sleeping are all better than sitting for people's weight, waistlines, and heart health.

Clinical trials are under way using gene therapy to treat inherited cardiovascular conditions, including familial hypercholesterolemia (one form of abnormally high cholesterol), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (a type of heart muscle disease), and transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (a form of heart failure resulting from amyloid deposits). But challenges remain in developing and delivering these therapies.

About a third of healthy people-and about 60% of people with high blood pressure-are salt sensitive, meaning they have an exaggerated response to dietary sodium. But an estimated one in 10 people may have inverse salt sensitivity: their blood pressure goes up when they eat less salt. Understanding the genetic basis of these differences may one day improve the treatment of blood pressure.

Compared with analog scales, digital scales are more accurate and easier to read. Many smart scales include added features such as smartphone connectivity and body composition estimates.

A long-term study published in 2023 found that watching lots of television during young adulthood was linked to increased rates of obesity and other factors that raise heart disease risk in midlife.