Harvard Heart Letter articles from September 2005

Harvard Heart Letter archives from September 2005

Check your blood pressure at home.
September 1, 2005... For a more accurate measure of your blood pressure, and help keeping it under control, try keeping tabs on it at home. Are you interested in halving your chances of having a heart attack or stroke? You don't need a new drug to stop...

Using Crestor -- and all statins -- safely.
September 1, 2005... Some simple steps can help minimize or avoid muscle problems from these cholesterol-lowering drugs. If you take Crestor (rosuvastatin), the cholesterol-lowering statin, the summer of 2005 may have felt like déjà vu all over...

No clear winner in traditional vs. off-pump bypass surgery.
September 1, 2005... A panel of experts commissioned by the American Heart Association says that on-pump and off-pump bypass surgery are equivalent, though each has its advantages and disadvantages. Fifty years ago, fixing a narrowed or blocked coronary artery...

Heart Beat; Statins don't stop aortic valve narrowing ...
September 1, 2005... Narrowing of the aortic valve, the trapdoor through which blood leaves the heart, is one of the most common heart problems among the elderly. In most patients, this problem, called aortic stenosis, is caused by the buildup of calcium on the...

Heart Beat; Canada chills bypass costs.
September 1, 2005... Bypass surgery, like prescription drugs, costs less in Canada. A typical coronary artery bypass operation north of the border costs about half of what it does in the United States, with essentially the same results, according to a first-ever...

Heart Beat; Regular exercise eases inflammation.
September 1, 2005... A tough game of tennis, an afternoon uprooting a row of old hedge, or a brisk half-hour walk is enough to rev up inflammation through your body. Yet if you do these, or any exercise, routinely, you'll end up with less inflammation than the...

Heart Beat; No one-size-fits-all for aspirin and elders.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... If you're over age 70 and don't have heart disease, you might want to think twice before taking a daily aspirin for your heart. Among people with heart disease, regardless of age, aspirin is a proven strategy for keeping heart attacks and...

Heart Beat; Drug combinations best for heart disease.
September 1, 2005... British researchers made a splash in 2003 when they suggested that everyone over age 55 should take a Polypill to prevent heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular conditions. This pill would contain aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering statin,...

Heart Beat; Follow-up: Limit Natrecor to hospital use, say experts.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... An independent panel of experts took a hard look at the safety of Natrecor (nesiritide), a controversial heart failure drug, and how it is used during the summer of 2005. The panel, headed by Dr. Eugene Braunwald, a preeminent heart...

Ask the doctor; What should you do if your pacemaker or implanted defibrillator is recalled?
September 1, 2005... If you have a pacemaker or other implanted heart device, news every few weeks about implantable defibrillators that short-circuit, pacemakers with wires that break, or defibrillators with batteries that run out too soon are enough to make your...