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What is shared decision-making, and how can it help patients?
Traditionally, many decisions about medical treatment were left up to doctors: They decided, and patients agreed. Today, health care professionals are embracing the idea of shared decision-making, where patients become informed partners in their choices. A new report from the American Heart Association, published Monday in the journal Circulation, could help make that concept more common in cardiology.
Confused about carbs? This might help
If you get cross-eyed thinking about carbohydrates, that's understandable. They can be, quite literally, both simple and complex. They abound in snacks that nobody would call healthy but also appear in foods considered essential to good health. "It gets a little confusing," said Andrew Odegaard, associate professor of epidemiology and...
For pediatrician mom, 'back to school' starts well before first day of class
Any parent knows that back-to-school season can turn into one of the busiest times of the year. As a medical professional whose many roles include being a parent to two adolescents, Dr. Natalie Muth might know more than most. Muth is a pediatrician and registered dietitian at Children's Primary Care...
Global cardiovascular deaths, disability linked to particulate air pollution
Deaths and disability from cardiovascular disease linked to small particles of air pollution rose by about a third worldwide between 1990 and 2019, a new study says. Men were affected more than women, and poorer regions more than wealthier ones. And although deaths related to such pollution actually fell after adjusting for age, people are living longer with disability, according to the research, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Salty-tasting water turned out to be a warning sign
Donnese Tyler's schedule was chock-full. With a husband, two sons, a demanding job in contracts management and a reluctance to say no to anyone, she rarely made time for herself. On an errand-filled Wednesday last October, she was looking forward to the monthly meeting of the mothers' club at her...
During a stroke, her doctor son got her quick care, then her granddaughter penned a story
Rekha Desai planned to play Legos and blocks with her 2-year-old grandson, Kaveh, as she watched him in his Atlanta home. But Rekha never arrived. Instead, the 73-year-old lay in a gurney thousands of feet in the air after having a stroke. A helicopter raced Rekha to a hospital that...
Get past its spines and reap health benefits from the prickly pear cactus
Covered in menacing needlelike spines, the prickly pear cactus demands to be treated with care. In return, it will reward you with a juicy neon fruit and fleshy green pads that have nourished people for millennia. While the spines that protect the plant from predators can intimidate, the showy clusters...
Aggressive medical management may help reduce disparities in stroke risk factors
Black people who have had strokes have more cardiovascular risk factors than people who are not Black, but those risks may be reduced through intensive interventions, new research suggests. The study, published Thursday in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, found that Black adults who had strokes due to severe...
Mom of 2 survived heart failure during pregnancy and became certified paramedic
Since she was a child, Yanela Vickers has loved babies and the medical field. She dreamed of going into obstetrics and gynecology. Instead, Yanela got a close look at the profession as a patient. She was 18 and five months pregnant when she walked across the stage to collect her high school diploma in June 2007.
Your home – and where it's located – may affect your health
They say home is where the heart is. But can a person's home also play a role in how healthy that heart is?. A large body of research suggests it can. Experts say housing – where homes are located and if a person has one at all – can make a major contribution to cardiovascular health, impacting numerous risk factors as well as a person's access to the resources needed to maintain good heart health.
Even just 1 alcoholic drink a day may increase blood pressure
Drinking alcoholic beverages on a regular basis – even if it's just one drink per day – may raise blood pressure levels as you age, a new research analysis suggests. The study, published Monday in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, found people who routinely drank even small amounts of alcohol saw blood pressure measurements rise more than those who drank none at all. The analysis examined data from seven studies in the U.S., Korea and Japan.
Dallas radio personality gets a new heart after cardiac problems take a toll
Hal Harbuck was walking from the dock to his family's lake cabin when he felt a severe pain in his chest. Having recently been water skiing, he wondered if he'd pulled a muscle. Then again, it also felt like the worst heartburn he'd ever felt. He eventually realized he might...
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American Heart Association News covers heart disease, stroke and related health issues. Not all views expressed in American Heart Association News stories reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Statements, conclusions, accuracy and reliability of studies published in American Heart Association scientific journals or presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the American Heart Association’s official guidance, policies or positions.
While tending to her grandmother after a stroke, she had one herself
Late one evening, Dawn Berry took a call from her grandmother's nursing home. Her grandmother had been found unresponsive in bed. What should they do?. Dawn, who was then 43, had worked in the medical field for more than 20 years in her hometown of Oklahoma City. When her grandmother had a severe stroke at home a few months earlier, Dawn's aunts and uncles authorized her to make medical decisions. Now she made another: Send Grandma to the emergency room.
Extreme heat mixed with air pollution may double risk of fatal heart attack
Extreme temperatures combined with high levels of air pollution dramatically increase the risk of older adults having a fatal heart attack, new research from China suggests. The study, published this week in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, found the risk of dying from a heart attack may double on days with both extremely high temperatures and excessive levels of pollution from fine particulate matter. Extreme cold also may raise fatal heart attack risks, the results showed.
How a neurologist keeps his brain healthy – and what he wants to do better
Few people know more about stroke prevention and brain health than neurologist and epidemiologist Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele. And one of the first things he'd like you to know is that you have a "tremendous" amount of control over your own stroke risk. Most strokes are preventable, said Ovbiagele, a professor...
Asian adults less likely to survive cardiac arrest despite same bystander CPR rate as white peers
Asian adults in the U.S. are less likely to survive a cardiac arrest outside a hospital than their white peers, even though they are just as likely to receive CPR from a bystander, new research finds. The study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association. "We were...
Warnings – and hope – from new heart disease treatment guidelines
New guidelines detailing how to care for people with heart disease come with some easy-to-grasp warnings for patients. The chronic coronary disease guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, published Thursday in the AHA journal Circulation, are no incremental update, said Dr. Salim Virani, chairperson of the expert panel that rewrote them.
Hmong Americans may have strokes at much younger ages
Hmong American adults who have a stroke tend to be much younger than their white counterparts and may be more likely to have a less common type that causes bleeding in the brain, a new study suggests. The research, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, also...
Woman survives stroke in 2 parts of the brain at age 29
After a night of partying, 29-year-old Bethany Moeddel felt nauseous and had a headache. A hangover, she figured. She couldn't sleep it off, though, because it was a big day. Her boyfriend's younger brother was receiving his first communion. Moeddel made it to the church near her apartment in Totowa,...
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Heart and Stroke News: Stories about people, science and health, from American Heart Association News.
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