Heart patients who’ve bought an all-electric Tesla need not worry that their car might interfere with their implanted defibrillator. That’s the finding from a new study of 34 seniors who had the devices, which help guard against dangerous irregular heartbeats. The study “demonstrates the safety of the Tesla electric vehicle in patients with cardiac defibrillators…  read on >

A life-threatening heart emergency can spell financial doom for people who don’t have health insurance, a pair of new studies shows. Around 4 out of 5 uninsured patients hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or heart bypass surgery faced financial ruin before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, the researchers reported. “Medical…  read on >

You’ve probably heard of “distracted driving,” but what about “distracted walking?” Largely due to the immense popularity of cell phones, pedestrian deaths reached nearly 6,000 in the United States last year, a 9 percent jump over 2015, the National Safety Council says. Walking remains a great way to get healthy exercise, but you should keep…  read on >

A clinical trial may be just what the doctor ordered for a person who hasn’t responded to a standard treatment or is unable to handle its side effects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests you should research a clinical trial carefully and ask many questions before you consider participating. The agency says before joining…  read on >

It’s a common Hollywood trope — an older guy is having enthusiastic sex with a gal half his age when he suddenly flops over dead. But in real life, sexual activity very rarely causes cardiac arrest, a new study reassuringly reports. Sex was linked to only 34 out of more than 4,500 cardiac arrests that…  read on >

If you love to while away a weekend watching a season’s worth of episodes from a favorite TV series, you may inadvertently put yourself at risk for developing a dangerous blood clot. When researchers compared people who reported watching TV more often to those who seldom or never watched TV, the risk of a venous…  read on >

SUNDAY, Nov. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) – Cutting back on salt, along with following the highly recommended “DASH” diet, can beat back high blood pressure in adults, new research shows. After just a month, the results for people adopting this strategy were “striking and reinforce the importance of dietary changes” for those with problematic blood…  read on >

America’s hang-ups over sexuality and gender could cost women their lives when their heart suddenly stops, a new study suggests. Simply put, women suffering from cardiac arrest in a public setting are less likely to get lifesaving CPR from a passerby than men are, researchers reported. “When it comes to life and death, we need…  read on >

CPR can be performed by sixth graders, a new study suggests. Some states require hands-only CPR training for high school graduation, but teaching younger children has not been a focus of training efforts, the researchers explained. “We were wondering why they need to wait until 12th grade when sixth graders have learned the circulation system…  read on >

Need another reason to keep your weight under control? Excess weight can cause dislocation of your knee and may even lead to a complication that results in amputation of your leg. A new study attributes a surge in dislocated knees to the U.S. obesity epidemic. “Obesity greatly increases the complications and costs of care,” said…  read on >