Harvard Heart Letter articles from May 2005

Harvard Heart Letter archives from May 2005

Aspirin and women -- age matters.
May 1, 2005... Aspirin can help healthy women over age 65 prevent both strokes and heart attacks. For younger women, the hazards of aspirin outweigh the benefits. Ever since a landmark trial in male physicians revealed in 1988 that aspirin helps prevent...

A better way to prevent blood clots?
May 1, 2005... A drug derived from cobra venom offers an alternative to warfarin, although liver problems temper its benefits. Since the 1950s the drug warfarin has been a key weapon in the battle against blood clots. Millions of Americans take it every...

Taking care of yourself is risky business.
May 1, 2005... Understanding risk, and how it is presented, can help you make better decisions about your health. Are you a risk taker? Even if you think of yourself as the cautious type, you take risks more often than you realize. We don't mean the...

American College of Cardiology annual meeting, March 6-9, Orlando.
May 1, 2005... The annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology produces a flood of information from new and ongoing studies. The stories on these two pages offer results from some of the most important or useful presentations of 2005. Music...

Ask the doctor; Surgery for mitral valve prolapse?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Q. In a study I heard about, people who had leaky mitral valves but no symptoms benefited from an operation to fix the valve. Many of the people in the study had mitral valve prolapse, as I do, but my doctor says I don't have a heart murmur....

Ask the doctor; What can I do if I am super-sensitive to warfarin?(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Q. I am 86 and have atrial fibrillation. I started taking warfarin to avoid blood clots, but right away developed a very high bleeding time and needed to be hospitalized. I don't want to go through that again. Is there another approach for me?...