Harvard Heart Letter articles from January 2007

Harvard Heart Letter archives from January 2007

Are you prepared for a cardiac emergency?
January 1, 2007... Most heart attacks happen at home. Be ready if one strikes at yours. If home is where the heart is, it's also where the heart attacks and cardiac arrests are -- up to three-quarters of them happen at home. Yet family members of those at...

Simple changes in diet can protect you against friendly fire.(Disease/Disorder overview)
January 1, 2007... What you eat can fuel or cool inflammation, a key driver of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. Inflammation is an essential part of the body's healing system. Without it, injuries would fester and simple infections could...

Sleep problems, heart disease often in bed together.(Disease/Disorder overview)
January 1, 2007... Disturbed sleep can trouble the heart and a troubled heart can disturb sleep. Sleep seems to be such a serene way to replenish energy and restore the mind. For your heart, blood vessels, and immune system, though, it's anything but...

Making connections good for the heart and soul.
January 1, 2007... Loneliness takes a toll on the heart; building a social network can strengthen it. The heart is not, as Scottish poet William Sharp called it, a lonely hunter -- at least not by nature. Loneliness actually stresses the heart and the entire...

Talking, tools make for better medical decisions.(Disease/Disorder overview)
January 1, 2007... When options exist, your preferences can help you and your doctor pick the treatment that's right for you. The daily decisions about what to do for your heart -- Should I take the stairs or the elevator? Ice cream or fruit? -- don't...

Ask the doctor; Can coronary artery grafts break?(Disease/Disorder overview)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Q. Before my triple bypass operation, I was an avid devotee of spinning. I loved the cardiac workout I got from this vigorous cycling program. After going through 10 weeks of cardiac rehabilitation, I slowly returned to my spinning routine. I...

Ask the doctor; Is it okay to stop taking warfarin when atrial fibrillation stops?(Drug overview)
January 1, 2007... Q. Five years ago, my wife, then age 70, woke up one night with a fluttering heartbeat. Her pulse was also very irregular. We went to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Her heart rhythm returned to normal in a...

Ask the doctor; Do I need a thallium stress test every year?
January 1, 2007... Q. Ever since my bypass operation in 1996, my cardiologist has me take a thallium stress test every year. I haven't had any heart-related trouble since the bypass, and the test results are always fine. I'm worried that the radiation from these...

Reader to Reader.(excellent advisers for cardiovascular problems)
January 1, 2007... Doctors and other health care providers aren't the only experts when it comes to heart disease. People who live with cardiovascular problems every day often have excellent advice. So we're introducing a new feature, Reader to Reader, in which...