Cardiopulmonary resuscitation can double or triple a person’s odds of surviving cardiac arrest. Doing CPR can keep blood circulating until emergency help arrives. The basic action is simple: push hard and fast in the center of the chest.
People with obesity and uncontrolled diabetes who underwent weight loss surgery lost much more weight, had better blood sugar control, and used fewer diabetes medications than people treated with medications alone.
A coronary artery calcium scan can reveal specks of calcium in the walls of the heart’s arteries, an early sign of cardiovascular disease. For people with a modest risk of heart disease, the test may help with decisions about treatment.
New guidelines for treating atrial fibrillation include a recommendation to consider newer oral anticoagulant drugs. Compared with warfarin, they are just as effective for preventing a stroke but are less likely to cause dangerous bleeds in the brain.
Eating less fat has caused people to eat more processed foods, especially refined carbohydrates. People should to worry less about limiting saturated fat in their diets and focus more on eating a variety of whole or minimally processed foods.
When a person having a stroke arrives at the hospital, the faster he or she is treated, the better.
People who take cholesterol-lowering statins appear to eat slightly more calories and fat than people who don’t take statins.
Atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation are heart-rhythm disorders that trigger palpitations and lightheadedness. While atrial flutter causes a rapid but regular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation is marked by a rapid but chaotic, unpredictable heartbeat.
The popular painkillers known as NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and the prescription drug celecoxib. All except aspirin may slightly increase the risk of a heart attack, but naproxen appears to be the least risky.
Statins may raise blood sugar levels in a small number of people, possibly triggering a diagnosis of diabetes. But the overall benefit of statins in treating heart disease outweighs any slight increase in the risk of diabetes.