heart attack

Check the Mirror: 4 Signs of Heart Disease Risk

Posted on 11/7/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthApparently, looks really do matter, at least when it comes to health. A new study finds that if you look old for your age, it could signal that your heart is aging too quickly as well. Research presented this week at the American Heart Association’s scientific meeting in Los Angeles found that people who have three to four distinctive aging signs — a receding hairline at the temples, baldness at the crown of the head, an earlobe crease, or bumpy …

Bypass Better for Diabetics With Heart Disease

Posted on 11/5/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthOlder diabetics with more than one blocked artery were much less likely to die within five years or have another heart attack if they chose bypass surgery instead of stents to treat their condition, a major new study found. Researchers said the five-year study of 1,900 patients (average age: 63) with diabetes found that those who underwent bypass surgery to improve blood flow to the heart were 30 percent less likely to die or suffer a heart attack than were …

Getting a New Hip or Knee? Your Heart Attack Risk Could Rise

Posted on 09/4/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthWhen Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, 61, went in for knee surgery last month, he thought it was no biggie. After all, half a million older Americans this year will do the exact same thing — get a worn-out, aching knee joint replaced. What Lopez didn’t expect was to have his heart stop in the recovery room. A quick-thinking nurse immediately started chest compressions, and Lopez is alive to write about the experience, but a new study suggests his …

ICU Patients: Twice As Likely to Suffer Fatal Misdiagnosis

Posted on 08/29/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthYou would think that patients in a hospital’s intensive care unit would be the least likely to worsen or die simply because someone misdiagnosed their condition. Unfortunately, you would be wrong, say patient safety experts with Johns Hopkins University in a new study. Despite all the tests and close monitoring of ICU patients, researchers found that these patients face twice the risk of a fatal diagnostic error as compared with adult hospital patients overall. In fact, as many as 40,500 …

Heart Attacks Can Cause Serious Depression — In Spouses

Posted on 08/27/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthWhile depression is common among heart attack survivors, their spouses can also be hit hard. According to a new study, spouses of heart attack victims are at greater risk of depression, anxiety or suicide, and men are more likely than women to become depressed or commit suicide, American and Danish researchers found. Even if a husband or wife survives a heart attack, the spouse suffers more than do spouses of people who survive or die from other conditions, the study …

Can A Routine EKG Predict A Future Heart Attack?

Posted on 07/31/2012 by Candy Sagon | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthCan getting an EKG, where they attach electrodes to your chest to measure your heart activity, help predict whether you’ll have a heart attack? No, says updated federal guidelines announced Monday. If you’re otherwise healthy and at low risk for heart problems, you don’t need a routine electrocardiogram, or EKG, says the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. And if you’re at intermediate or high-risk for heart problems, but don’t have symptoms — like shortness of breath or chest pain — …