Category: heart-letter

In the first month after surviving a heart attack, people are four times more likely to have a cardiac arrest than in the following months.

have been taking Crestor (10 mg) for several years. Now my insurance company tells me it is dropping Crestor from its preferred drug list and suggests I replace it with Lipitor. Will this be okay?

Long ago I was told that isometric exercises, like weight lifting, shouldn’t be done by anyone with a heart condition. Is that still the prevailing wisdom?

Plant sterols have been shown to reduce cholesterol, so a company is manufacturing tortilla chips with sterols added.

Americans eat too much fat and refined sugar, and not enough vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fish. Making some conscious substitutions and food choices can promote heart health.

The Atkins diet helped women lose weight more quickly compared to other diets, but long-term eating strategies that match food intake to calories burned are the most effective way to maintain a healthy weight.

Every now and then I get a sudden, sharp pain on the left side of my chest, like a knife. I get a little dizzy, and then it disappears as quickly as it came on. Even though the test results were fine, it still scares me. Should I be concerned about this?

Several European studies have found that the majority of people who undergo nonemergency angioplasty do not have to remain in the hospital overnight, but further study is needed before this practice becomes common in the US.

My father recently had a pacemaker installed. Now, almost every time he stands up or gets out of bed, he feels dizzy. Is this a common side effect of getting a pacemaker, something he needs to get used to? Is there anything he can do about it?

The ankle-brachial index is a comparative blood pressure test, taken at the arms and ankles, that is done to check for the presence of peripheral artery disease.