Harvard Heart Letter articles from September 2007

Harvard Heart Letter archives from September 2007

Shake the salt habit for a longer life.(Clinical report)
September 1, 2007... Long-term study links cutting back on salt with less heart disease and longer survival. The argument over how much salt in the diet is too much has been going on for decades. One camp says that we all need to eat less salt. The other...

When high cholesterol is a family affair.(Disease/Disorder overview)
September 1, 2007... An inherited form of high cholesterol -- familial hypercholesterolemia -- demands serious action. Most of us with high cholesterol have the garden-variety type brought on by eating too much cholesterol and saturated fat and too few fruits,...

Skipping a beat -- the surprise of palpitations.(Medical condition overview)
September 1, 2007... Palpitations are worrisome but usually aren't dangerous. Most of us are blissfully unaware of the heart's steady thump as it contracts and relaxes nearly 100,000 times a day. Sometimes, though, you may notice that your heart has...

Heart Beat; Paying attention to potassium in heart failure.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Heart failure poses a balancing problem for potassium, an essential mineral found in many foods. Too much potassium in the bloodstream, which can happen with the use of potassium-sparing diuretics (water pills), can cause potentially deadly...

Heart Beat; A square of chocolate keeps the doctor away?(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Get ready for the onslaught of ads promoting chocolate as a wonder food for the heart: A carefully conducted German trial has shown that eating a small square of dark chocolate a day can reduce blood pressure by a few points in healthy people...

Heart Beat; Diabetes poses danger for the heart, body.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... It's common knowledge that poorly controlled diabetes leads to a variety of complications. These range from heart attack, stroke, heart disease, and heart failure to kidney disease, eye damage or loss of vision, and foot problems, including...

Heart Beat; Waist watching.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Adding a few pounds around the midsection during adulthood seems innocuous enough. It has its own catchy moniker -- middle-age spread -- and was once a sign of prosperity and success. Today it's a sign of trouble. Abdominal fat, also called...

Heart Beat; Warfarin trumps aspirin for stroke prevention in elderly.(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Stroke is one of the most feared complications of atrial fibrillation, an extremely common, rapid and erratic rhythm of the heart's upper chambers. Many studies have shown that taking warfarin (Coumadin) helps prevent stroke in people with...

Follow-up.
September 1, 2007... Saving money on statins. Splitting pills has been mentioned as a way to save money on some medications (January 2003 Harvard Heart Letter). In the first randomized, controlled trial of pill splitting, University of Michigan researchers found...

Ask the doctor; Is red yeast rice good for lowering cholesterol?(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Q. I saw a newspaper column that said red yeast rice is a safer, more effective way to treat high cholesterol than statin drugs. Is that true? A. Is red yeast rice safer than statins? Probably not. More effective? Almost certainly not....

Ask the doctor; Why is my blood pressure higher in one arm than the other?(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Q. I was recently admitted to the hospital in the middle of the night with chest pain. When the doctors took my blood pressure, they found that it was much lower in my right arm than in my left. They rushed me in for a CT scan, saying they were...