ScienceDaily: Heart Disease News

Americans die of heart or cardiovascular disease at an alarming rate. In fact, heart attacks, strokes and related diseases will kill an estimated 610,000 Americans this year alone. Some medications help, but to better tackle this problem, researchers need to know exactly how the heart and blood vessels stay healthy in the first place.

People with obesity are more likely to develop a rapid and irregular heart rate, called atrial fibrillation, which can lead to stroke, heart failure and other complications, according to Penn State researchers. They found that people with obesity had a 40 percent higher chance of developing atrial fibrillation than people without obesity.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs are more likely to save thousands of additional lives when used in people with higher levels of LDL cholesterol, or 'bad' cholesterol, according to a new study.

Decreased HDL and ApoA-l levels in the general population are associated with an increased risk of death from cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Researchers found the FA patients had serum ApoA-I levels lower than healthy control subjects. In preclinical studies using cell models that mimicked liver cells of patients with the rare disease Friedreich's ataxia (FA), a widely used cholesterol-lowering drug increased a precursor of HDL (high-density lipoprotein).

Predicting and monitoring cardiovascular disease is often expensive and tenuous, involving high-tech equipment and intrusive procedures. However, a new method developed by researchers offers a better way. By coupling a machine learning model with a patient's pulse data, they are able to measure a key risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and arterial stiffness, using just a smart phone.

Research shows anti-hypertensive drugs improve heart rate more in patients who listen to music after taking medication. Among musical genres, classical music is the one with greatest efficiency at reducing arterial pressure; authors of the study speculate whether music acts on the patients' parasympathetic system, increasing their capability of absorbing medication.

A new report weighs the risks and benefits of a recent change to blood pressure guidelines in the US.

Regularly drinking more than the recommended UK guidelines for alcohol could take years off your life, according to new research. The study shows that drinking more alcohol is associated with a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart failure and death.

Researchers have found that a newly identified subset of a known genetic variant found primarily in individuals of South Asian descent may be a better marker for carriers of heart dysfunction in this population and that individuals with this genetic variant are more likely to develop early signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in women. A study of 138 menopausal women examined the association of mood, symptoms, and quality of life measures with the key markers of vascular aging, a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Exposure to smoke from wildfires was associated with increased rates of emergency room visits for heart- and stroke-related illness, especially among adults age 65 and older.

The so-called good cholesterol, HDL, is associated with infectious disease, new research shows.

Heart failure is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and death in the US -- with the rate of pregnancy-related deaths more than doubling between 1987 and 2011. Even so, much about heart failure-related hospitalizations before, during and after delivery is unknown.

Taking part in a hot chili pepper eating contest might have some unexpected consequences, highlight doctors in a recent case study.

Controlling blood pressure with any of the commonly prescribed antihypertensive medications (beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blocks, and diuretics) can prevent dementia in older African-Americans with hypertension according to a new study.

As fitness increases, heart risk decreases regardless of genetic risk.

Many breast cancer therapies cause damage to the heart. However, in the largest study of its kind so far, scientists have now shown that the risk of death from heart disease in breast cancer patients following radiotherapy or chemotherapy is no higher than it is among the average population. Good risk management in the hospitals as well as control screenings at short intervals seem to make up for elevated risks.

People with cardiovascular disease who haven't been diagnosed with depression but are at high-risk for it are more likely to report worse healthcare experiences and use emergency room services more often than those diagnosed with depression. Heart attack patients diagnosed with depression are more likely to be hospitalized, use emergency rooms and annually spend more on healthcare than heart attack patients without depression.

Survey respondents were more likely to choose a daily cup of tea or a pill over exercise to 'treat' high blood pressure in an imaginary scenario, but many didn't think the interventions were worth the benefits. When the perceived gain of treating hypertension was higher -- one or five extra years of life versus one extra month, for example -- survey respondents were more likely to say they would.

One in 4 low-income families experience significant financial burden from out-of-pocket expenses for treatment of chronic heart disease, according to new research. One in 10 low-income families, including those with insurance, experience catastrophic financial burden for treating chronic heart disease conditions. Low-income families with insurance had higher rates of out-of-pocket expenses than those without insurance.