Category: heart-letter

The tiny wire-mesh tubes called stents that prop open arteries cleared during an angioplasty have improved a great deal in the past 30 years.

Eating a potassium-rich diet may decrease the risk of having an ischemic stroke, which is caused by a blood clot blocking an artery in the brain.

People prescribed a generic statin may be more likely to take their pills and have better outcomes than people prescribed a brand-name statin.

Salmon, tuna, and other fatty fish contain omega-3 fatty acids, which may help prevent blood clots, stabilize dangerous heart rhythms, and lower blood pressure.

Many people with diabetes can successfully tailor drug dosages according to daily measurements. A similar strategy for self-regulating high blood pressure drugs may produce good results for some people.

People with a parent or sibling with peripheral artery disease are nearly twice as likely to develop the painful leg condition as people with no family history of the disease.

An aortic aneurysm is a weakened area in the aorta, the vessel that travels from the heart through the torso. Most aortic aneurysms occur in the abdominal area, but about 25% occur in the chest and are called thoracic aortic aneurysms.

The buildup of plaque deposits in the carotid arteries of the neck can block blood flow to the brain and cause a stroke. The arteries can be unclogged either with carotid endarterectomy surgery or placement of a stent.

Quick, thrusting movements done to ease neck pain-known as cervical manipulative therapy-have been linked to tears in the arteries of the neck.

Gum disease, which happens when sticky, bacteria-laden film builds up and hardens around the teeth, has been linked to cardiovascular disease.