Heart Health Archive

Exercise may help to reverse some types of heart damage. Not only can workouts prevent heart problems, but it may help to improve conditions that may raise risk for cardiovascular events. A 2021 study, for example, showed that a yearlong exercise program helped improve heart health in people who were at increased risk for heart failure.

It is possible to experience a stroke without symptoms. Addressing cardiovascular risk factors can help lower the risk.

Treating people who have low levels of vitamin D with supplements may reduce their risk for heart attacks and death from any cause.

Some people with borderline high blood pressure have higher readings during winter, even high enough to need medicine to control it. In spring or summer, they might be able to reduce the dose or stop taking the medication. Losing excess weight and cutting back on salt also can help.

The most common type of heart failure in older adults is heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. This is caused by the heart's left ventricle not being able to relax, which means less blood enters the chamber, so less gets pumped out. Prevention and treatments continue to evolve, but include controlling blood pressure, addressing weight gain with exercise and diet, not smoking, and curbing alcohol intake.

The FDA called for the food industry to voluntarily cut the amount of sodium in processed, packed, and prepared foods. Those products provide about 70% of the sodium in the typical American diet.

Exposure to chemicals called phthalates, found in commonly used plastics, may be linked to a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

A draft guideline from a national panel of experts recommends that people without heart disease who are 60 and older should not take low-dose aspirin to prevent a heart attack or stroke.