Heart disease doesn’t suddenly begin at age 50 or 60. Cardiovascular risk can build over a woman’s lifetime, and some important clues may appear years earlier. A history of: • High blood pressure during pregnancy (preeclampsia or gestational hypertension) • Diabetes during...
Can exercise improve your health even if the number on the scale barely changes? A randomized trial published in Frontiers in Public Health in August 2026 studied adults with overweight or obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors. 🏃 Aerobic + strength training 📅 3...
HCM is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick. This can make it harder for the heart to fill with blood and, in some people, pump blood effectively. Many people have no symptoms, while others may experience shortness of breath, chest pain, a racing...
❌ Myth: Cigarettes are bad, but vaping is safe ✅ Reality: E-cigarettes are not harmless Why? Vaping can expose you to nicotine, heavy metals, ultrafine particles, and toxic chemicals. It can raise heart rate and blood pressure, affect blood vessel function, and cause nicotine...
❌ Myth: Smoothies are always healthy ✅ Reality: Too much juice, added sugar, and oversized portions can turn a smoothie into liquid dessert 🫀 Why limit added sugar? Rapidly absorbed sugars raise blood glucose, triggering insulin release. Repeated excess sugar intake can...
One of the most important questions in preventive cardiology is whether we can prevent serious heart problems before they happen. The VESALIUS-CV trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers encouraging evidence. 🔬 What did researchers find? The study...
The answer may be more complicated than you think! A new systematic review and network meta-analysis in iScience compared 10 exercise approaches across 53 studies involving 2,948 participants. 🔹 Aerobic + strength training: Benefits for waist size, LDL cholesterol, and blood...
POTS is more than a fast heart rate when you stand. Doctors look for a pattern: ❤️ A sustained heart-rate rise within 10 minutes of standing • ≥30 beats/min in adults • ≥40 beats/min in ages 12–19 🧍 Symptoms occur when upright and are chronic, typically ≥3 months, such as...
Do you know how to measure your blood pressure (aka BP) correctly at home? The 2026 ACC Expert Consensus Decision Pathway on resistant hypertension highlights accurate BP measurement as a critical first step. Because if the measurement is wrong, the treatment decision may be...
Clinical Trial Tracking: A SCAD Trial SCAD = spontaneous coronary artery dissection It happens when a tear or separation develops in the wall of a heart artery, which can reduce blood flow and cause a heart attack. SCAD can happen even without the usual heart disease risk...
❌ Myth: Salad is always healthy and low in calories. ✅ Reality: Not necessarily. It depends on the ingredients, portion size, toppings and especially the dressing. 🥗 Approximate calories per 2 tablespoons: •Ranch: 130–150 kcal •Caesar: 150–180 kcal •Blue cheese: 140–160...
A new 2026 statement from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) highlights an important message about nutrition and heart health: It’s less about finding the “perfect” food and more about your overall eating pattern. 🥦 More nutrient-rich foods 🌾 More fiber and...
As we close out #LipidAwarenessMonth, a reminder: 🫀 Very low HDL is not always about lifestyle. Rare genetic conditions can sometimes be the reason. 🧬 One example is familial hypoalphalipoproteinemia. Changes in the APOA1 gene can affect ApoA-I, the main protein involved in...
❌ Myth: “Instant noodles are cheap. I live on ramen and save money.” ✅ Reality: Cheap now doesn’t always mean cheap for your health. Let’s be honest: when money is tight, ramen can feel like a lifesaver. 🍜 It’s cheap, quick, filling, and easy to make. BUT many instant...
❌ Myth: Coffee is always bad for your heart ✅ Reality: Not necessarily ☕️ For most people, moderate coffee consumption can fit into a heart-healthy lifestyle. And what you add to your coffee matters too. Cream → extra saturated fat and calories Sugar → added sugar and...
Friday night. Most of you probably have tomorrow off. So tonight, just focus on sleep quality. Reminder: snoring isn’t always “just snoring.” Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can cause repeated pauses in breathing during sleep, leading to poor sleep quality, daytime fatigue, and...
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an inherited condition that can cause very high LDL-C from a young age and increase the risk of premature heart disease. 🔎 Think FH when you see: • LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL • Premature heart disease • Family history of high cholesterol or early...
Have you ever heard of “exercise snacks”? Exercise doesn’t always mean an hour at the gym. A recent meta-analysis of 11 randomized clinical trials found moderate-certainty evidence that exercise snacks improve cardiorespiratory fitness in physically inactive adults. Think of...
❌ Myth: Diabetes is primarily a glucose problem. ✅ Reality: Diabetes is a metabolic disease, with glucose at its center but its complications extend far beyond blood sugar. Chronic hyperglycemia contributes to both microvascular and macrovascular complications: 🧠...
❌ Myth: A CAC scan prevents a heart attack. CAC is sometimes even described as the “mammogram for the heart” ✅ Reality: Not exactly Everyone knows what a mammogram is. But many people have never heard of CAC. CAC = coronary artery calcium It’s a measurement from a CT scan...