Max Heart Rate and Heart Rate Recovery: What the Numbers Say About Fitness and Heart Health
Max heart rate is the fastest your heart can beat during all-out effort; most people estimate it as 220 minus age, though real values…
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Blog Category
Heart & Metabolism
Articles on the heart and metabolism: blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, heart rhythm and the risk factors that link them. Chest pain, breathlessness or fainting need urgent care, not reading.
What Realistic Results Look Like After Heart Rhythm Disorder Treatment
Realistic heart rhythm disorder treatment results usually mean fewer, shorter or milder episodes, a lower stroke risk and better day-to-day energy, not a guarantee…
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After a Peripheral Angiogram: Puncture-Site Care and the Symptoms That Warrant a Call
Mild aching, bruising and a small tender lump at the puncture site are common after a peripheral angiogram and usually settle over one to…
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Returning to Exercise After Myocarditis: Why Cardiologists Ask You to Wait
Most cardiologists ask people to avoid moderate-to-vigorous exercise for roughly three to six months after acute myocarditis, because an inflamed heart muscle is more…
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Creatinine and eGFR: How Kidney Function Is Estimated and What the Numbers Mean
eGFR, or estimated glomerular filtration rate, is a calculation that uses your blood creatinine level, age and sex to estimate how many milliliters of…
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Blood-Thinning Medicine After a Coronary Stent: Why Taking It Exactly as Prescribed Matters
Blood thinners after a coronary stent, usually aspirin plus a second antiplatelet medicine, stop platelets from clumping on the stent while the artery lining…
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Myocarditis, Pericarditis and Endocarditis: How Each Inflammatory Heart Condition Is Treated
Myocarditis, pericarditis and endocarditis affect different layers of the heart and are treated on different principles. Myocarditis is managed with rest, monitoring and heart-support…
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How to Lower Blood Pressure Naturally: The Ten Changes With Trial Evidence, Ranked by Effect
The lifestyle changes with the strongest trial evidence for lowering blood pressure are a DASH-style eating pattern, cutting sodium, losing excess weight, regular aerobic…
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Why Cardiorenal Syndrome Is Managed by Cardiology and Nephrology Together, Not in Turn
Cardiorenal syndrome is managed by cardiology and nephrology together because the heart and kidneys fail as a linked system, not one after the other.…
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What an Electrophysiology (EP) Study Involves: Catheters, Rhythm Mapping and Test Pacing
During an electrophysiology (EP) study, a cardiologist threads thin, flexible catheters through a vein, usually in the groin, into the heart. Electrodes on the…
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When Is Catheter Carotid Angiography Recommended After Ultrasound Shows Narrowing?
Catheter carotid angiography is usually reserved for situations where ultrasound and a second noninvasive scan, such as CT or MR angiography, disagree or cannot…
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How the Extracardiac Fontan Procedure Reroutes Blood Flow: A Guide for Parents
The extracardiac Fontan procedure is the usual third stage of surgery for children born with one working heart pump. Surgeons attach a synthetic tube…
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Preparing for Cardiothoracic Surgery: Chest Imaging, Stopping Smoking and the Pre-Op Talk
Preparing for cardiothoracic surgery usually means completing chest imaging and heart tests such as a chest X-ray, ECG and echocardiogram, stopping smoking as early…
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How Angina Is Treated: Medication, Lifestyle Changes and Procedures to Restore Blood Flow
Angina is treated in three layers: medicines that ease an attack (short-acting nitrates) and prevent attacks (such as beta blockers or calcium channel blockers),…
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Recovery After Mitral Valve Clip Repair: Walking Within a Day and the First Two Weeks
Mitral clip recovery time is usually short compared with open heart surgery. Most people are helped to walk within about a day, often go…
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Living With Heart Failure: Fluid, Salt and Daily Weighing Explained by the Care Team
Living with heart failure usually means three daily habits: keeping salt low so the body holds less fluid, following any fluid limit your care…
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Liver Enzymes Explained: ALT, AST and GGT: What Raised Numbers Mean
Liver enzymes such as ALT, AST and GGT are proteins that leak into the blood when liver cells are stressed or injured. Mildly raised…
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How Advanced Mapping and Imaging Guide the Catheter During an Ablation Procedure
During cardiac ablation, a 3D mapping system tracks the catheter tip using weak magnetic fields or small electrical signals sensed through patches on the…
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