Category: heart-letter

I have been diagnosed with venous insufficiency. What does that mean?

People who take a statin after a hemorrhagic stroke may be at a slightly higher risk of having another stroke, but this potential risk may be outweighed by the protection against heart attack provided by a statin.

Brief updates on coughing as a side effect of a type of blood pressure medication, waist circumference as an indicator of longevity, and a possible correlation between multiple miscarriages and increased risk of heart attack.

Small, yellow skin lesions that develop on the eyelids may be an indicator of heart disease.

Results of several studies suggest that taking fish oil does not benefit people who already have some form of heart disease, but eating fish is still likely to offer health benefits to most people.

Combining a biventricular pacemaker and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator may help prevent death from cardiac arrest better than the ICD alone.

I am a 50-year-old woman with newly diagnosed high blood pressure. My pressure seems to be normal in the morning, averaging 121/74, but in the afternoon the upper number is often in the 140s to 150s. Is this normal, especially while on a medication?

Despite studies that suggested those who gain weight with age might live longer, having a body mass index in the normal range still correlates with a lower death rate.

Some risk factors for stroke, such as family history and ethnicity, cannot be changed, but attention to factors like weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and physical activity can significantly reduce stroke risk.

You have written about low potassium in the blood and ways to improve it, but I never read about too much potassium in the blood. Can you tell me why it happens and what is done about it?