A simple surgery may help lower the risk for strokes by more than a third in patients with atrial fibrillation, a common irregular heartbeat, a new trial finds. The reduction in stroke risk is achieved by blocking the left atrial appendage, an unused, finger-like tissue that traps blood in the upper chamber of the heart… read on > read on >
Though obesity by itself can drive up heart disease risk, new research suggests diabetes and heart disease risk is especially high when combined with a tendency to stay up late at night. The finding stems from a comparison of sleep patterns and disease in 172 middle-aged people as part of an ongoing obesity prevention study… read on > read on >
MONDAY, May 17, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — When Carol Coulther’s husband, Rich, had a stroke, her teacher instincts kicked in immediately. She began writing down everything his doctors said to make sense of what happened and what he would need in his recovery. Coulther’s instinct to document everything was spot on, according to… read on > read on >
In new evidence that illustrates that health issues rarely exist in a vacuum, a new study finds a link between heart health and brain function. Existing evidence suggests that having heart disease raises one’s risk of dementia, and vice versa, but a team of researchers based in London wanted to find out if this connection… read on > read on >
Many Americans felt relief and joy at the announcement last week that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks at many indoor and outdoor locations. But don’t be surprised if those good feelings come tinged with stress or worry: Mental health experts said in a HealthDay Now interview that the COVID-19 pandemic has… read on > read on >
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline announced Monday that their coronavirus vaccine candidate produced powerful responses in a preliminary trial that followed an earlier setback in the vaccine’s development. In selected data that has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, the vaccine “triggered strong immune response amongst adults of all age groups with 95% to 100%… read on > read on >
Just as some elderly drivers need to give up their car keys, older gun owners may eventually face “firearm retirement.” And a preliminary study suggests they are open to the idea. In focus-group interviews with older gun owners, researchers found that many had considered putting limits on their firearm access — though they usually hadn’t… read on > read on >
Boys who weigh less than 2 pounds at birth don’t age as well as their normal-weight peers, a long-term study finds. Canadian researchers have followed a group of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) babies and their normal-weight counterparts since 1977. When participants were in their early 30s, researchers compared the genes of 45 who were… read on > read on >
You want to keep Fido or Fluffy safe, so when they need medication, it’s important to ask questions and guard against dosing errors, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. “A number of the medication errors that occur in the treatment of people are the same as those we are seeing in the treatment of… read on > read on >
Gender-diverse youths are three times more likely to be bullied and victimized than those who identify as male or female, a new study of more than 4,400 teens has found. “Transgender youths reported the highest rates of all forms of peer victimization, which were double to nearly triple those of males and up to 2.6… read on > read on >
