Harvard Heart Letter articles from October 2006

Harvard Heart Letter archives from October 2006

Trying times for painkiller choices.(choosing the right painkiller)
October 1, 2006... Vioxx, Bextra, and Celebrex can increase the risk for heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. So can the old standbys, like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. The ruckus over the safety of three blockbuster painkillers -- Vioxx,...

Ten steps for keeping heart disease in check.(guidelines for treating heart disease)
October 1, 2006... New guidelines from the American Heart Association for people who already have heart disease. Every so often, new research prompts the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology to revise their guidelines for diagnosing...

Crystallizing moment.(cholesterol crystals accumulation in artery walls and plaque formation induces heart attack)
October 1, 2006... Needle-like crystals of cholesterol could promote, trigger heart attacks. What sets off a heart attack? The steps leading up to one have been fairly well worked out: Cholesterol accumulating in patches along artery walls is attacked by...

Heart Beat; Real age -- diabetes.(risk factors of diabetes disease)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... When it comes to your heart and blood vessels, diabetes adds 15 years to your age. That's the conclusion of Canadian researchers who looked at almost 400,000 people with diabetes and 9 million without it. They collected information on when...

Heart Beat; A mantra for heart disease.(meditation for curing heart disease)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Claims that meditation may help prevent, slow, or even reverse heart disease got a boost in the summer of 2006 from a California research team. It found that clearing the mind for 20 minutes twice a day may help lower blood pressure and improve...

Heart Beat; Migraine and heart disease.(migraine links to cardiovascular disease)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... A connection between migraine and stroke has been suggested for some time. Now researchers are making a case that migraine with aura doubles the risk of having chest pain (angina), a heart attack, or dying of cardiovascular disease in women....

Ask the doctor; Is mitral valve surgery safe for an 82-year-old?
October 1, 2006... Q. My 82-year-old father needs to have his mitral valve fixed. It took him a long time to recover from having an aortic aneurysm repaired, so he is procrastinating on the valve operation. Can he put it off? If not, are there alternatives to...

Ask the doctor; Can I take nattokinase instead of warfarin?(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Q. I would like to find a safer, easier alternative to warfarin, which I have been taking for a couple of years. I have been hearing about nattokinase -- can I take it in place of warfarin? A. Nattokinase, an enzyme extracted from fermented...

Ask the doctor; Is my blood pressure too high in the morning?(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Q. When I get up in the morning, my systolic blood pressure is 30 to 50 points higher than it is later in the day (about 110). I am taking three different blood pressure medications. Is this unusual? A. Blood pressure is often highest in...

Ask the doctor; Does "no trans fat" really mean no trans fat?(trans fat labelling rules by the Food and Drug Administration)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Q. I've been using Take Control in place of butter or margarine because it contains cholesterol-lowering plant sterols. The food label says it contains zero grams of trans fat, even though one of the ingredients is partially hydrogenated...