Linda Johns was in the midst of a presentation at a Seattle bookstore when she suddenly felt intense flulike symptoms. But it wasn't flu. It was a heart attack, a type that hits healthy young women.
Many women and even doctors underestimate a woman's heart attack risk, research shows, as they focus on weight and breast health instead. Tiny damaged arteries in the heart may not show up in scans.
Choosing a heart-healthy lifestyle can help protect your brain as you age, research suggests. And it's not just memory skills that benefit. Problem-solving abilities and judgment are preserved, too.
Raise a glass to good health? Probably not. The idea that alcohol is good for you has little scientific purchase, an analysis of previous research finds. The more you drink, the worse off you'll be.
Eric O'Grey was 51, obese and suffering from diabetes and high cholesterol when he took home an overweight shelter dog. Now the duo are headlining a campaign on how pets improve humans' lives.
The risk of getting dementia has been dropping for decades. Why? Research suggests education's effect on the brain and good cardiovascular health help.
Ben Lecomte wants to be the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean — a 5,500-mile journey. Doctors will monitor his heart remotely to see how intensive exercise affects this vital muscle.
This Thursday, people all over the country will sit around the dinner table discussing what they're thankful for. And being grateful may also reduce the risk of heart disease.
Residents of North Carolina's "stroke belt" headed out with cameras to document why the area is notorious for high rates of heart disease and stroke. They aim to come up with community solutions.
Plain old text messages — you know, the ones you don't need a smartphone to receive — helped people with heart disease make changes like smoking less and exercising more.
Some adults at risk of heart attack or stroke can indeed benefit from taking a daily aspirin, a federal panel says. And it may also lower colorectal cancer risk. But the treatment has risks, too.
Too much sleep, too little sleep or disrupted sleep may put people at risk for heart disease. A study finds a link between poor quality sleep patterns and a buildup of calcium in the arteries.
Statins made her feel wretched, so she took a DNA test to find out why. But even the doctor with the genetic testing company admits that the test doesn't tell you much more than you already know.
Black women are more likely to have heart disease with just a few metabolic risk factors, a study finds. That's not the case for white women. Being obese seems to affect black women more, too.
A small dose of aspirin taken regularly can help prevent a second heart attack or stroke. But too many healthy people are taking the drug for prevention, and for them, the risks may outweigh benefits.
Most employers have a wellness program, but who knows if it's actually improving your health. The American Heart Association is proposing its own standards for improving cardiovascular health at work.
Doctors long ago noticed that, beyond the usual influences of diet and smoking, short people seem to get heart disease more often than tall people. But why?
Women under 55 are twice as likely to die after being hospitalized for a heart attack than men. Women delay treatment because they may not recognize the symptoms and they're reluctant to make a fuss.
Many older people are taking a lot of meds, and some drugs may not be doing them much good. When terminally ill people went off statins, they said they felt better. And it didn't increase their risk.
Doctors hand out cholesterol-lowering statins like breath mints, but like any drug they come with risks. Less heart disease, sure, a slightly higher risk of diabetes, too. So what's a person to do?
People with a hereditary form of very high cholesterol are much less likely to get diabetes, a study finds. And that offers clues as to why cholesterol-lowering drugs sometimes raise diabetes risk.
Even when women suspected they were having a heart attack, they didn't report it because they feared being called hypochondriacs, a study finds. That may contribute to women's higher death rates.
