Category: heart-letter

Researchers from Sweden have demonstrated that the heart is capable of growing new muscle cells, though this process occurs very slowly.

My blood pressure is high when I first get up in the morning, but always drops back to normal by 9 a.m. and stays that way throughout the day. I take Avapro. My doctor says I shouldn’t worry about the temporary high morning pressure. What do you think?

Some friends invited me to accompany them to Rocky Mountain National Park. I would love to go, but I have high blood pressure and worry that high altitudes are dangerous for people with this condition. Is that the case?

Several years ago, a friend in my sewing circle was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. My doctor just told me I have heart failure. Are these the same condition or different ones?

Brief updates on why diabetics should limit their consumption of eggs, attempting to patch a hole in the hearts of some migraine sufferers, and a possible connection between clogged vein grafts and depression.

Is my long-term use of beta blockers and ACE inhibitors setting me up for heart failure? I understand these drugs keep my heart rate low. If the heart is a muscle, and muscles are strengthened by exercise, won’t slowing the heart weaken it?

Many people who take aspirin and clopidogrel (Plavix) to prevent blood clots also take a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) to ease the gastrointestinal bleeding the other medications can cause. But a study found that PPIs can limit the effectiveness of Plavix.

I was just diagnosed with heart failure. My husband and I like to travel. Is it okay for people like me to fly?

People who take the medication warfarin need to test their blood regularly to monitor its clotting time. A Medicare program is providing the equipment and means to do this testing at home.

Angioplasty can be used as a treatment for intermittent claudication in leg veins. While the results are quicker, equivalent benefits can be achieved with an exercise program combined with medication, without the risk and recovery period of surgery.