Category: heart-letter

Heart problems that can cause people to faint include an abnormally fast or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) or a heart valve problem.

A miscarriage, stillbirth, or problems during pregnancy like high blood pressure or diabetes may signal hidden cardiovascular vulnerabilities later in life.

Electronic devices called implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) detect and terminate irregular beats in the heart’s lower chambers.

Echocardiograms create still and moving images of your heart. The probe is typically used on the outside of the chest, but sometimes the probe is put on a flexible tube passed down the esophagus to get a clearer picture of the heart’s valves.

Better medicines and safer procedures have contributed to the increase in longevity, but exercise may be the key ingredient in the mixture that allows some people to not only survive but also thrive in later life.

Probiotics are the live bacteria that can be found in yogurt, fermented foods, milk and soy products, and dietary supplements.

For people who experience side effects from statins or need additional medications to achieve healthy cholesterol levels, non-statin drugs may be an option.

A high-sodium diet can boost blood pressure, which may raise the risk of heart attack and stroke. Experts recommend that people limit their daily sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams.

A low-fat vegan diet appears to halt or reverse heart disease. But this strict diet may be tough to follow. A more lenient eating pattern, such as the Mediterranean diet, appears to be very beneficial and easier to follow.

A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a battery-driven pump implanted in the chest to support the pumping action of the heart’s ventricles. The rapidly evolving device has become a valuable asset in treating people severely ill with heart failure.