Harvard Heart Letter articles from May 2003

Harvard Heart Letter archives from May 2003

Avoid an aspirin roadblock.(interaction between aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
May 1, 2003... A drug commonly used to control pain and inflammation can thwart aspirin's ability to protect your heart. If you take aspirin to guard your heart, you could lose its protection if you also take a drug to ease pain or inflammation. ...

Keeping surprise blood clots at bay.
May 1, 2003... Long-term use of a low-intensity blood thinner may keep deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism from returning. When the phrase "blood clot" shows up in this newsletter, the terms "heart attack" or "stroke" usually follow. But there...

A HAART ache from HIV therapy?(highly active antiretroviral therapy may increase LDL cholesterol level)
May 1, 2003... The therapy used to fight AIDS may not be so good for the heart. But simple steps can minimize the problem. Twenty years ago, most people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) died of AIDS or a related condition within a...

Enter the new Iron Age.(strength training for the heart)
May 1, 2003... Strength training is excellent exercise for your heart, and for the rest of you, too. Wouldn't it be great to pop a pill that would make your heart work more efficiently -even if it's ailing - while controlling your weight, fighting type...

Heart Beat - Women and heart disease.
May 1, 2003... How does heart disease affect women? Let us count the ways, the National Coalition of Women with Heart Disease decided. Its survey of more than 200 such women offers a glimpse into the complex connections between women and heart disease. ...

Heart Beat - Experimental treatments turn toxins into medicine.
May 1, 2003... File this under "one man's meat is another man's poison": Nicotine and carbon monoxide, two key constituents of bad-for-the-heart (and the rest of the body) cigarette smoke, may someday be used to heal the heart. We aren't suggesting that...

Ask the Doctor - Why didn't a stress test warn me I was about to have a heart attack?
May 1, 2003... Q I recently had an exercise test with thallium because of chest pain that came on with exercise. The test didn't show any problems. Then, a month later, I got a burning pain below my breastbone and went to the emergency department. I was...

Ask the Doctor - Could chest pain be a sign that I have cancer again?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Q I had Hodgkin's disease 20 years ago. The combination of radiation therapy to my chest and chemotherapy cured my cancer, and there haven't been any signs of a recurrence. But I recently started having some dull chest pain that isn't really...