New Skin Imaging Can Reveal Early Heart Risk in Tiny Vessels
A breakthrough in skin-based imaging may let doctors spot hidden blood vessel damage long before heart disease shows up. […]
Fit with Clogged Arteries vs. Unfit with Clogged Arteries
Have you ever wondered if a more physically fit adult with clogged coronary arteries might have a longevity advantage when compared to someone with the same degree of coronary blockage but with less physical fitness? [...]
Excess Fat in Muscle Regardless of BMI Is Heart Disease Risk
If you’re thin but have excess fat within your muscles you may be at bigger heart disease risk than those with higher BMI but less fat inside their muscles. […]
Shortness of Breath from COVID-19 vs. Heart Disease
Shortness of breath is a common symptom of COVID-19, but feeling short of breath may also be a prominent symptom of blocked arteries or a weak heart. […]
Can Chronic Heart Failure Be Missed by an MRA?
Is it possible for a magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) to miss detecting chronic heart failure? The MR angiogram is typically used to measure the function of one's heart. An MR angiogram is a type of [...]
The Numbers You Should Know for Heart Disease Prevention
Here are the important numbers you should know as part of your mission to prevent developing heart disease or having a stroke. How well do you know what your numbers should be? Blood pressure Lipid [...]
Why Are You Blacking Out Lately? Get Your Heart Checked!
If you’ve been having blackouts or even almost-fainting episodes – even for a long time – get your heart checked out and don’t delay this for another minute. […]
The Soonest You Can Recover from Heart Bypass Surgery?
Why is it that some heart bypass patients are on the golf course six weeks after surgery, while others take four months to fully recover? […]
Why Aren’t CT Heart Scans Done in Emergency Rooms for Chest Pain ?
If you go to the ER for chest pain, you won’t be given a CT scan of your heart just because of your symptom. And if you do get one, it won’t be to check [...]
Can an Ultrasound Show Hard, Calcified Plaque in the Heart’s Arteries ?
An ultrasound takes “pictures” of your heart. The difference between hard calcified plaque and soft plaque in the coronary arteries is that the hard buildup is much more stable. […]
Are You About 20 but Have Really High Cholesterol?
Yes, it happens: People in the 20 something age range can have a cholesterol number of 250, even 300. This would be alarming for a 20-year-old to hear from their doctor. But one number alone, [...]
Can Heart Decompensation Occur at Higher Ejection Fractions?
So can acute decompensated heart failure occur with higher ejection fractions? In other words, with mild to moderately reduced ejection fraction in the range of 40 to 50%? […]
Can a Person Live to 100 with Chronic Heart Failure?
Just how long CAN a person with chronic heart failure live? First off, not all people with chronic heart failure experience congestion (which causes fluid retention). […]
Mortality Rate of Cardiorenal Syndrome by Age Bracket
Medical journals typically refer to the age bracket of “over 65” when discussing the mortality or survival rates of cardiorenal syndrome. […]
Can Mental Stress Make Chronic Heart Failure Worse?
Chronic heart failure in the elderly has a poor prognosis, but is this made worse if one is subjected to chronic stress vs. if they weren’t? We surely know that chronic stress can contribute to [...]
Feeling Pulse in Finger Wherever You Press It: Is this Normal?
Have you noticed that sometimes, when your index or middle finger is against ANY part of your body, you feel a pulse—and you realize that this heartbeat is emanating from your fingertip? [...]
Can a Heart Problem Cause a Warm Sensation in the Leg?
Just what is the connection between coronary heart disease and a warm feeling in the leg? You may already know that a deep vein thrombosis can present with a very warm sensation in a specific [...]
Natural Ways to Unclog Coronary Artery Soft Plaque
Soft plaque is unstable and can rupture, causing a heart attack; there are natural ways to unclog coronary arteries or kick back the soft plaque. […]
How Noise Like Traffic Can Damage Your Heart Health
Research shows what smart people have known all along: Noise pollution such as traffic harms the heart. Types of Noise that Can Raise the Risk of Developing Heart Disease • Traffic • Aircraft • Industrial [...]
Why Do Heart Tests Look Normal When All Arteries Are Blocked?
A heart stress test can show a normal result despite the three major coronary arteries being blocked enough to put one at risk for a heart attack. […]
Does Echocardiogram Show Plaque Buildup in Arteries?
An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart that, unlike a catheter angiogram (the gold standard for showing plaque buildup in arteries), is non-invasive and carries no risks. The CT angiogram (CAT scan with contrast [...]
Could Carrie Fisher Have Prevented Her Heart Attack?
There are steps Carrie Fisher could have taken, other than healthy diet & exercise, that may have prevented the heart attack she suffered on an airplane. Drugs, alcohol, smoking and crash dieting have been blamed [...]
Why Isn’t the Corus CAD Test Part of Routine Physical?
Have you been wondering why a routine physical or even routine cardiologist exam doesn’t include the Corus CAD test? This blood test uses “gene expression” to quickly and safely determine when chest pain is due [...]
Chest Pain: Blood Test Can Tell if It’s Clogged Arteries
This blood test uses age, sex and gene expression measurements to safely & quickly determine whose chest pain is the result of obstructive coronary artery disease (clogged arteries). Certain patients are candidates for this blood [...]
CT Angiography vs. Stress Test for Heart Disease Detection
New research shows that the stress test is not effective at detecting obstructive heart disease, and that the CT angiogram wins considerably. The CT angiogram wins out over the cardiac stress test when it comes [...]
How Accurate Is a Stress Test for Women’s Heart Disease Detection?
A treadmill stress test to determine the presence of heart disease in women is not as accurate as you may think. If you’ve always imagined that all a woman needs to do, to find out [...]
CT Abdomen Scan Can Predict Heart Disease and Mortality
Plaque in your abdomen is a strong clue that there is plaque in your heart: coronary artery disease, or "sludge" in your heart's arteries. When a CT abdominal scan shows very high degrees of abdominal [...]
Are You Scared of a Catheter Coronary Angiogram?
Are you scared to have a catheter angiogram, but need one? A catheter coronary angiogram is an invasive procedure, and if your doctor recommends you should have one, you may end up too afraid to [...]
Can Stress Test Miss Severely Blocked Coronary Arteries?
If your stress test was normal, does this mean you can't possibly have severely blocked coronary arteries? How much faith should you put in the cardiac stress test? "A stress echocardiogram or a nuclear stress [...]
Catheter Angiogram vs. CT Angiogram for Heart Disease Detection
So which is better for diagnosing heart disease: CT angiogram or a catheter angiogram, which is invasive and carries big risks? Are you aware of the less-invasive procedure of CT angiography to obtain images of blocked [...]
Can Heart Disease Be Detected with Ultrasound?
There are two kinds of coronary plaque: hard (calcified or "stable") and soft ("unstable"). The calcium score test measures the degree of calcified deposits inside the coronary arteries, but not the degree or extend of [...]
Do Doctors Give too Many Tests for Heart Disease?
What does a cardiologist have to say about the belief that doctors order too many tests for heart disease? These tests include stress tests and angiograms. There are also various blood tests related to diseases [...]