heart-letter
People who take a potassium-sparing diuretic such as spironolactone (Aldactone, generic), should not use salt substitutes that contain potassium, and limit their intake of potassium-rich foods such as bananas, orange juice, and potatoes.
Walking an extra 2,000 steps a day may lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, or dying of heart disease in people at high risk of diabetes and who also have (or are prone to) heart disease.
Multivitamin and mineral supplements do not reduce rates of heart disease, cancer, or death over all. The supplements also don’t appear to lessen the risk of cardiovascular complications in heart attack survivors.
The FDA has proposed that trans fats should be taken off the list of additives “generally recognized as safe.”
The tiny MitraClip can be inserted into the heart via a catheter to secure a damaged mitral valve, thereby easing the problems associated with mitral valve regurgitation without the need for open-heart surgery.
New guidelines for prescribing the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins no longer focus on an individual’s starting blood cholesterol value. Instead, the decision should focus on an individual’s overall risk of heart disease.
For people with heart disease and arthritis, exercise can help ease both conditions. Medications commonly used for arthritis can interact with those used to treat heart disease.
Tiny electronic devices called implantable cardioverter-defibrillators are used to detect and correct potentially deadly heart rhythms.
Testosterone therapy-which is widely marketed to boost energy and sexual function-may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in older men with low testosterone and other health problems.
After a heart attack, five pivotal steps can hasten recovery and help protect long-term heart health.