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3 weeks ago | 
health.harvard.edu | Christopher Cannon
Smart watches can monitor different parameters simply by measuring a person's pulse and body movements. Potentially helpful features include those to detect very low or high heart rates, irregular heart rhythms, and breathing disruptions during sleep.
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Mar 1, 2025 | 
health.harvard.edu | Julie Corliss |Christopher Cannon
Don't believe the naysayers — canola, soybean, and other seed oils can be a good source of heart-healthy fat if you use them wisely.
Bogus information about seed oils — especially canola oil and soybean oil — has been circulating on the Internet for more than a decade. The details are misleading, often creating confusion in the kitchen.
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Feb 21, 2025 | 
health.harvard.edu | Julie Corliss |Christopher Cannon
Research we're watching Having an extremely low LDL level from aggressive cholesterol-lowering therapy was not associated with cognitive impairment, according to a new study. The study was an extension of an earlier investigation of people with heart disease that compared the cognitive effects of taking the cholesterol-lowering drug evolocumab (Repatha) plus a statin to taking a statin only.
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Jan 18, 2025 | 
health.harvard.edu | Julie Corliss |Christopher Cannon
Research we're watching Both a Mediterranean-style diet and a vegan diet can help stave off heart disease, but the latter is more affordable, according to a small study published Nov. 4. 2024, in JAMA Network Open. The study included 62 people randomly assigned to follow a low-fat vegan diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans or a Mediterranean diet, which focused on fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, low-fat dairy, and extra-virgin olive oil.
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Sep 19, 2024 | 
health.harvard.edu | Julie Corliss |Christopher Cannon
Research we're watching October 1, 2024 By Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing Cultivating gratitude may help older women live longer, a new study shows. The findings, published July 3, 2024, in JAMA Psychiatry, suggest that most of this benefit comes from preventing deaths from heart disease.
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Aug 20, 2024 | 
health.harvard.edu | Julie Corliss |Christopher Cannon
High blood levels of lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a) — a variant of LDL cholesterol — may triple the risk of a heart attack, even among people with no other risks for heart disease, a new study confirms.
The study included 6,238 people ages 43 to 65 who had their Lp(a) levels measured. Values in the top 10% — 216 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) or greater — were defined as high, while values in the lower 50% — less than 42 nmol/L — were defined as low.
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Jul 26, 2024 | 
mdpi.com | Christopher Cannon |Matt Gray
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Jun 19, 2024 | 
health.harvard.edu | Christopher Cannon
Q. My doctor prescribed a new cholesterol medication. When I went to fill the prescription, the pharmacist said this drug requires prior authorization. But even after that, it will cost $350 per month, which I can't afford. What can I do? A. Unfortunately, this is a very common scenario, with several possible (and often confusing) explanations. But newer medications nearly always cost more than older ones.
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Jun 1, 2024 | 
health.harvard.edu | Julie Corliss |Christopher Cannon
A nationwide poll suggests that one in four older adults takes aspirin regularly in hopes of preventing a heart attack or stroke, even though updated guidelines from 2019 advise against that practice in many cases.
Aspirin helps prevent blood clots that can cause a heart attack or stroke, but the drug can also cause serious bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract and brain.
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May 17, 2024 | 
health.harvard.edu | Julie Corliss |Christopher Cannon
Concerns about the health effects of microplastics continue to mount. Now, a new study finds that people with microplastics in the plaque clogging their neck arteries were far more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people with plastic-free plaque.
When researchers tested the plaque removed from the neck arteries of 257 people, they found tiny particles of plastic — mostly polyethylene but also polyvinyl chloride — in 58% of the people.
