Heart Health Archive

Statins have been used to treat high cholesterol for decades, but some people who take statins still have LDL cholesterol levels that are too high. A different type of medication, PCSK9 inhibitors, were approved several years ago and are showing effectiveness in lowering LDL in such people.

Although quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is officially classified as a seed, most people think of it as a whole grain. Quinoa is usually boiled and eaten as a side dish or added to salads or soups. The small seeds come in a variety of colors, including white, yellow, red, and black.

Native to South America, quinoa became popular in this country over the past decade and is widely available in grocery stores, either packaged or in bulk bins. Quinoa's impressive nutrient profile has earned it a reputation as a "superfood." Unlike most plant proteins, quinoa is a complete protein, which means it contains all nine essential amino acids — the protein components that our bodies are unable to make on their own.

Research we're watching

Eating a vegetarian diet may lower your risk of stroke, according to a study in the March 17 issue of Neurology.

The study included two groups of people from Buddhist communities in Taiwan, where vegetarian diets are encouraged. About 30% of the more than 130,000 participants were vegetarian, meaning they didn't eat any meat or fish. Their average age was 50, and none had a prior stroke.

Ask the doctor

Q. I'm 74, and my doctor says severe aortic stenosis is causing me to feel breathless and faint, and that I need treatment soon: either surgery or something called TAVR. Neither sounds particularly appealing. Can't I just take medicine?

A. The heart pumps blood through the aortic valve and out to the rest of the body. With severe aortic stenosis, the aortic valve gets stiff and narrow, and the heart can't pump enough blood to the body. That's a problem.

Research we're watching

People with clogged arteries in their hearts (coronary artery disease) or legs (peripheral artery disease) face a high risk of having a heart attack or stroke, particularly if they also have diabetes. For such people, a combination of clot-preventing drugs lowers the risk of those dangerous outcomes, according to a study published online March 28 by the journal Circulation.

The study included just over 18,300 people with coronary or peripheral artery disease; about 38% also had diabetes. They all took low-dose aspirin daily, but half also took 2.5 milligrams of rivaroxaban (Xarelto) twice daily while the others took a placebo. Like aspirin, rivaroxaban helps discourage blood clots, but through a different mechanism.

Research we're watching

Coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀) is a vitamin-like substance made naturally by the body that's needed for energy production within muscle cells. It's also sold as a dietary supplement and touted for its ability to prevent muscle-related side effects linked to cholesterol-lowering statins. But a new review finds no evidence for that alleged benefit.

Researchers combed through 431 published reports involving statins and CoQ₁₀. They included just seven studies that met specific criteria, which included studies that compared CoQ₁₀ to a placebo in adults who reported muscle pain while taking statins. (Around 10% of people taking statins report muscle aches or pains, although the true incidence of this problem isn't entirely clear.)

News briefs

Taking a warm bath helps soothe aching joints, wash away stress, and promote sleep. Now, a study published online March 24, 2020, by the journal Heart suggests that daily hot baths are also associated with better heart health. Researchers analyzed self-reported health and lifestyle information from more than 30,000 middle-aged people in Japan. Participants responded to a questionnaire at the start of the study and were then followed for about 20 years. Compared with people who didn't take a tub bath more than twice a week, people who took a daily warm or hot bath had a 28% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 26% lower risk of stroke. The study is only observational and doesn't prove that daily tub bathing staves off heart problems. But previous research has shown that the effects of tub bathing on the body are similar to those of exercise. Use caution, however: taking baths in very hot water is also tied to sudden death due to overheating, confusion, or drowning. If you're going to take a bath, keep the temperature comfortable and don't risk overheating. Finally, this study says nothing about the possible cardiovascular benefits of hot showers.

Image: © JohnnyGreig/Getty Images

Ask the doctor

Q. I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and my cardiologist prescribed metoprolol [Lopressor], which I understand is also used to treat angina. But I rarely have any chest pain. I was wondering if I should instead be getting another kind of medication to treat my condition?

A. During a bout of atrial fibrillation (afib), the heart beats very rapidly and irregularly. As a result, the heart may not pump effectively, which may cause symptoms such as breathlessness and fatigue. These episodes may be occasional and fleeting, or they may last hours, days, months, or even years.

These popular pets have been linked to a range of heart-related benefits.

Seeing a dog's wagging tail and furry face can be heartwarming. But living with and caring for a dog may be heart-protecting — and might even help you live longer, according to a growing body of research.

The latest findings include two articles published last year in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. One pooled findings from 10 studies involving a total of 3.8 million people who were followed between one and 22 years. Dog owners were 31% less likely to die from a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular condition than people who didn't own dogs. A separate study, which followed more than 335,000 heart attack and stroke survivors over 12 years, found that having a dog was linked to a 21% lower risk of death from any cause.

The blood vessels that supply your heart may narrow as you age. But there are many myths about this common condition.

To 17th-century anatomy experts, the arteries encircling the heart apparently resembled a crown, which is why they are known as the coronary arteries (from the Latin word corona, meaning wreath or crown). They emerge from the aorta, the body's largest artery, and dive into the muscle of the heart, nourishing the organ with blood and oxygen.

Healthy young children have flexible, elastic arteries. But over time, the heart's arteries can gradually stiffen and narrow, as cholesterol-laden plaque builds up inside their walls. This condition, coronary artery disease, is responsible for the heart attacks that strike somewhere in the United States roughly every 40 seconds.