Harvard Heart Letter articles from April 2003

Harvard Heart Letter archives from April 2003

Put your heart into prevention.
April 1, 2003... Don't depend on drugs alone to keep your heart healthy. It takes an all-out effort to make a difference. If your cholesterol-lowering medicine is doing its job, there's no harm in eating ice cream, chips, or the occasional juicy steak,...

Pass the fish (oil capsules), please.
April 1, 2003... Following the latest recommendations from the American Heart Association may mean reaching for fish oil supplements. If you love to eat fish, you'll be happy to take the bait in the American Heart Association's latest recommendations on...

Walk out on your leg pain.
April 1, 2003... Start an exercise program to beat intermittent claudication. Heart attacks and strokes are the most obvious consequences of atherosclerosis, but this artery-narrowing process is also responsible for peripheral artery disease. This...

A rhythm method for better health.
April 1, 2003... Being aware of your body clock could help protect you from a heart attack or stroke and let you time your medications for when they'll do the most good. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." ...

Heart valve replaced without surgery.
April 1, 2003... Some new medical technologies evolve during long periods of research and development. Others are pressed into service because they're the only way to save a life. That's what happened with an artificial heart valve designed to be threaded...

Nighttime breathing machine may lower blood pressure.
April 1, 2003... Are you a serious snorer, one who mixes long, breath-holding pauses with explosive grunts or gasps for air? If so, a common treatment may lower snoring-related increases in your nighttime and daytime blood pressure even as it quiets your...

Are you missing your "must-use" medications?
April 1, 2003... Prescribing drugs to protect an ailing heart is as much art as science. Matching the right combination of medications to an individual's physiology and constellation of medical conditions takes patience and attention. Even so, evidence...

Check-ups for a bulging blood vessel.
April 1, 2003... Middle-aged spread isn't limited to the waistline. The circulatory system's superhighway - the aorta - can begin to balloon out, especially in the lower abdomen, after age 50. About 5%-10% of older men and 1% of older women have this...

How can I tell if my stent fails?
April 1, 2003... Q I recently had a stent put into one of my coronary arteries. How will I or my cardiologist know if it closes for some reason? What will we do if that happens? A Virtually unknown five years ago, stents are now a common treatment for...

Are the pacemakers in ICDs safe?(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Q I heard on the news that the pacemaker inside an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD) can damage the heart. Is that true? A You are probably referring to the results of the DAVID trial, which were published in the Dec. 25, 2002,...