Heart Disease:Risks and Symptoms
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What You Need to Know
SLIDESHOW
9 Surprising Heart Attack Risks
Here we outline nine factors that may put people at risk specifically for heart attack, not just heart disease. This lists reinforces the idea that the heart can be put at risk by more factors than the dietary fat, obesity, and smoking that share the majority of the blame. View slideshow
What Puts You at Risk for High Cholesterol?
Read why your total number matters less than your ratio
Blood cholesterol is a risk factor for coronary artery disease and heart attack, so reducing your risk of high cholesterol is a worthy goal. However, the next time you brag that your cholesterol is nice and lowor lament that your number is in the mid-200sknow this: "Your total cholesterol is a pretty meaningless number," says Maureen Mays, MD, a preventive cardiologist and lipid specialist at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland... Read More
Coronary Artery Disease: Risks and Symptoms
Are you at risk for CAD?
If your arteries start collecting plaque, your heart may have trouble getting enough blood. And if blood flow runs low, the heart complainswith pain. This is often one of the first symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD)... Read More
10 Risk Factors for Heart Disease
How to take charge of the things you can control
Some risk factors for heart disease can be controlled, and some can't. According to the American Heart Association, these are the leading factors that put you at risk for coronary artery disease or a heart attack... Read More
Risks and Symptoms of High Blood Pressure
This silent, common syndrome is also highly preventable
About 65 million American adultsnearly one in threehave high blood pressure. In the United States, high blood pressure occurs more often in African Americans than in Caucasians... Read More
HEALTHY LIVING
5 Ways to Keep Pollution From Harming Your Heart
Breathing polluted air can decrease the heart’s electrical functioning in people with serious coronary artery disease. Avoiding air pollution can reduce the risk of heart attack, heart failure, and other complications, especially in patients who are recovering after being hospitalized, according to Diane R. Gold, MD, the study’s senior author and an associate professor of medicine and environmental health at Harvard. In fact, air pollution plays a major role in the heart’s health. Smoking is a well-documented culprit in heart disease, but a 2003 study by New York University researchers found that a nonsmoker living in a polluted city has about the same risk of dying of heart disease as a former smoker. Read More
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Dr. Robert Rosenson's Myths and Facts About Cholesterol
Q: Is the "total cholesterol" number my doctor talks about obsolete, or does it still have some value?
A: It has some relevance because, typically, the higher the cholesterol, the higher the bad cholesterolbut it also could be the higher the good cholesterol. And that’s why we focus on HDL and LDL cholesterol. By focusing on the total cholesterol, people can often be misled about their risk [for cardiovascular disease] being too high or too low. One can have total cholesterol of 175 and HDL cholesterol of 25 and be at incredibly high risk for a cardiovascular event. By contrast, one can have total cholesterol of 240 and HDL cholesterol of 65 and not be at increased risk. So it’s the components that comprise the total cholesterol that are important. Read More
A: It has some relevance because, typically, the higher the cholesterol, the higher the bad cholesterolbut it also could be the higher the good cholesterol. And that’s why we focus on HDL and LDL cholesterol. By focusing on the total cholesterol, people can often be misled about their risk [for cardiovascular disease] being too high or too low. One can have total cholesterol of 175 and HDL cholesterol of 25 and be at incredibly high risk for a cardiovascular event. By contrast, one can have total cholesterol of 240 and HDL cholesterol of 65 and not be at increased risk. So it’s the components that comprise the total cholesterol that are important. Read More
Video: Perspectives on Risks and Symptoms
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Chest PainsSymptoms were hard to ignore
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Hidden Heart TroubleI looked great, and exercised
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My Heart Was Failing"I thought I was out of shape"
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Stress ManagementHow you deal affects your risk for heart disease
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