Harvard Heart Letter articles from February 2003

Harvard Heart Letter archives from February 2003

9 preemptive strikes against stroke.
February 1, 2003... Take steps now to prevent a brain attack later. Who's afraid of stroke? Too few of us, according to a survey by the American Heart Association. Only 1 person in 100 cited stroke as a top health-related worry, far behind the 33 who listed...

Beyond statins.
February 1, 2003... New drugs can work with, or in place of, cholesterol-lowering statins. Ever since they hit the market in 1987, statins have elbowed aside other cholesterol-lowering drugs. That's understandable. Statins (STAT-inz) are far better at...

When big-hearted is bad.
February 1, 2003... An overgrown heart muscle can kill. In most cases, though, it's just a reason for extra care. A strong, muscular heart is a foundation of good health - except when it's too muscular. That's the case with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy...

Heart Beat - A big lift for your heart.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Weight training is great for your arms, chest, back, and legs. It also seems good for another muscle - your heart. That's the somewhat surprising conclusion of a long-term study of male health professionals conducted by Harvard School of...

Heart Beat - Aortic stenosis.
February 1, 2003... If you have aortic valve stenosis - a narrowing of your heart's "exit valve" - you may have been told there's not much you can do about it. Eventually, when the narrowing causes symptoms such as fatigue, chest pain, dizziness, and...

Heart Beat - A specialist or generalist for your heart?
February 1, 2003... Does it matter what kind of doctor you see for your heart? It does if you've had a heart attack or have other serious heart-related trouble. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital (a Harvard teaching...

Heart Beat - Heart profiler.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Even if you and your spouse have the same heart condition, you probably still need different treatments. Why? Each of you most likely has other factors, such as diabetes or smoking, that influence both your disease and your treatment choices....

Ask the Doctor - What's the right treatment if I have a high value on a "heart scan" but no other symptoms?
February 1, 2003... Q I had a heart scan a year ago. Though I am in pretty good shape for a 61-year-old man, my calcium score was very high (1,548). I was even more stunned when my cardiologist put me on all kinds of medication - Altace, Zocor, Niaspan, aspirin,...