Harvard Heart Letter articles from July 2003

Harvard Heart Letter archives from July 2003

Dangerous duo - heart disease and kidney disease.
July 1, 2003... Kidney disease and heart disease are linked in many ways. Take care of both for best benefits. If life were fair, we'd each be limited to a single major health problem. But it isn't. Diseases, like wolves, tend to travel in packs. One...

Time to wave goodbye to morning surge in blood pressure.
July 1, 2003... A big spike in blood pressure after getting out of bed should trigger a reevaluation of your medications. Do you dip? Or super-dip? We aren't asking about your tango skills, but about your blood pressure while you sleep. Research suggests...

At peace with warfarin.
July 1, 2003... 8 tips for staying on the safe side of this important "blood thinner." If you are prone to serious blood clots, the odds are good that you take warfarin. This drug can be a lifesaver for people with atrial fibrillation, an artificial heart...

New test opens window into the failing heart.(B-type natriuretic peptide measurement)
July 1, 2003... A hormone made by an overworked or damaged heart offers important clues to heart function and avenues for treatment. The heart doesn't fail without a fight. When chronic high blood pressure or disease-related damage makes the heart...

Heart Beat - Artery picture not worth 1,000 words.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Does a picture of calcium-caked arteries prompt people to make heart-healthy changes? You'd think it might, and that's certainly one rationale for doing so-called heart scans in healthy people. By itself, though, this kind of scan doesn't seem...

Heart Beat - Exercise intensity: Feeling what's right.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Here's a wrinkle in the "How hard should exercise be?" debate: If it feels hard, then it's doing your heart - and the rest of you - some good. That's the upshot of an ongoing study of men who graduated from Harvard before 1950. More than...

Heart Beat - PREMIER results.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Feeling motivated to put a real dent in your blood pressure? Instead of changing just your diet or activity level, try tackling several changes at once. A five-at-a-time program described in the April 23/30, 2003, issue of the Journal of the...

Ask the Doctor - Should I get an IMT test?(intima media thickness)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Q I've been seeing ads for a test called IMT that is supposed to spot heart disease and tell how serious it is, even if you don't have any symptoms. Is this for real? A IMT stands for intima media thickness. This test uses ultrasound to...

Ask the Doctor - How can I improve blood flow in my leg veins?(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Q I am an 80-year-old woman who had a triple bypass many years ago. The veins of my legs have closed, and my feet and legs are swollen and painful. My doctor explained that the blood flows down the legs but does not flow back up. She also said...