Cardiovascular

We often hear the term “heart attack” but there can be confusion about what's actually happening to the heart. This Mayo Clinic animation illustrates the most common way people experience a heart attack. You can include this in any of your heart health reporting.[animation TRT :17] This voiceover script and heart attack animation are available in the downloads above Broadcast cg: Courtesy Mayo Clinic

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NOTE: Join #heartchat Wed. Feb. 13 @ 12:30 p.m. ET. Moderated by TIME magazine health reporter Alice Park w/ experts from MayoClinic, AHA and WomenHeart.  Click here for ...

According to a Mayo Clinic study, cardiac disease is associated with an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment like difficulty with language, thinking and judgment ...

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Is it true that heart attacks are more common around the holidays? If so, why is that? What can people do to lower their risk?   ANSWER: Heart attacks, along with heart problems in general, are more common around the holidays. Various factors can play into this, including stress, travel, changes in diet and disrupted schedules. Fortunately, many self-care steps can help keep your heart healthy.  One of the biggest challenges this time of year is healthy eating. For people with heart problems, choosing a heart-healthy diet amid an abundance of holiday foods can be daunting. But not straying too far from your normal diet is important.  

Shoveling snow can provide good exercise when done correctly but can prove harmful if people try to take on more than they can handle or ...

  "DAMAGE TO HEART MUSCLE FROM A HEART ATTACK CAN BE REVERSED BY DIET & EXERCISE"  Find out the answer on Mayo Clinic Weekend this Saturday! You may ...

It's the most wonderful time of the year; except for when it's not!  On the most recent program, Dr. Mark Frye  joined us to discuss ...

Secondhand smoke exposure has an immediate harmful impact on the cardiovascular system of nonsmokers, and smoke-free policies are a very effective way to protect nonsmokers ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — August 27, 2012.  People who are of normal weight but have fat concentrated in their bellies have a higher death risk than those who are obese, according to Mayo Clinic research presented today at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich. Those studied who had a normal body mass index but central obesity — a high waist-to-hip ratio — had the highest cardiovascular death risk and the highest death risk from all causes, the analysis found. "We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution of the fat is very important even in people with a normal weight," says senior author Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, M.D., a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "This group has the highest death rate, even higher than those who are considered obese based on body mass index. From a public health perspective, this is a significant finding." The study included 12,785 people 18 and older from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a representative sample of the U.S. population. The survey recorded body measurements such as height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference, as well as socioeconomic status, comorbidities, and physiological and laboratory measurements. Baseline data were matched to the National Death Index to assess deaths at follow-up. Those studied were divided by body mass index into three categories (normal: 18.5–24.9 kg/m2; overweight: 25.0–29.9 kg/m2; and obese: >30 kg/m2) and two categories of waist-to-hip ratio (normal: The mean age was 44; 47.4 percent were men. The median follow-up period was 14.3 years. There were 2,562 deaths, of which 1,138 were cardiovascular related. The risk of cardiovascular death was 2.75 times higher, and the risk of death from all causes was 2.08 times higher, in people of normal weight with central obesity, compared with those with a normal body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio. "The high risk of death may be related to a higher visceral fat accumulation in this group, which is associated with insulin resistance and other risk factors, the limited amount of fat located on the hips and legs, which is fat with presumed protective effects, and to the relatively limited amount of muscle mass," says Karine Sahakyan, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiovascular research fellow at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

People who are of normal weight but have fat concentrated in their bellies have a higher death risk than those who are obese. The Mayo Clinic ...

In the U.S., hundreds of thousands of X-rays are performed each year to detect and treat common cardiovascular conditions. But there's growing concern about the potential risks of ...