Low Birth Weight Linked to Heart Risk
Higher White Blood Cell Count for Low-Birth-Weight Babies May Explain Heart Disease Risk
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
April 2, 2009 — Low-birth-weight babies have been shown in numerous studies to have an elevated risk for heart disease in adulthood, and now a new study may help explain why.
Heart Screening for Diabetes Patients?
Study Shows Screening Doesn’t Reduce Heart Attacks Among People With Diabetes
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD,FACC
April 14, 2009 — Heart disease is a major killer of type 2 diabetes patients, with fatal heart attacks and strokes often occurring with few warning signs.
Routine screening for coronary artery disease has been suggested as a way to identify diabetes patients who are most at risk, but a new study shows no evidence to support the practice.
Blueberries May Banish Belly Fat
Diet Rich in Blueberries May Boost Heart Health
By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
April 19, 2009 — Busting belly fat may be yet another of blueberries’ health benefits.
A new study shows rats who ate a diet rich in blueberries lost abdominal fat — the kind of fat linked to heart disease and diabetes — as well as experienced other health benefits like lowered cholesterol and improved glucose control even if their diet wasn’t otherwise heart-healthy.
Not All Diets Pass the Heart-Healthy Test Despite claims that many foods and diets are heart healthy, a new review shows only some show strong evidence of lowering heart disease risk.
Exercise Prescription Coming Your Way? When doctors prescribe exercise for sedentary adults, those patients boost their physical activity, a Spanish study shows.
Blueberries May Banish Belly Fat A new study shows rats who ate a diet rich in blueberries lost abdominal fat — the kind of fat linked to heart disease and diabetes — as well as experienced other health benefits.
Very Low Blood Sugar Linked to Dementia New research that suggests a link between dangerously low blood sugar and dementia in older patients with type 2 diabetes raises more questions about the strategy of aggressively treating diabetes patients to achieve tight glycemic control.
Laughter Healthy for Diabetes Patients Watching a funny video for 30 minutes per day could lower heart disease risk factors for high-risk diabetes patients, researchers report.
Also called: Sonogram
Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to look at organs and structures inside the body. Health care professionals use them to view the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, liver and other organs. During pregnancy, doctors use ultrasound tests to examine the fetus. Unlike x-rays, ultrasound does not involve exposure to radiation.
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Also called: Valvular heart disease
Your heart has four valves. Normally, these valves open to let blood flow through or out of your heart, and then shut to keep it from flowing backward. But sometimes they don’t work properly. What can happen?
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Varicose veins are enlarged veins that are swollen and raised above the surface of the skin. They can be dark purple or blue, and look twisted and bulging. Varicose veins are commonly found on the backs of the calves or on the inside of the leg. They develop when valves in the veins that allow blood to flow toward the heart stop working properly. As a result, blood pools in the veins and causes them to get larger.
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Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food, or by environmental exposures like tobacco smoke and radiation. Free radicals can damage cells, and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases.
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A heart transplant removes a damaged or diseased heart and replaces it with a healthy one. The healthy heart comes from a donor who has died. It is the last resort for people with heart failure when all other treatments have failed. Heart transplants are now the third most common organ transplant operation in the U.S.
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