heart attacks

(MedPage Today) -- The goal of the "Million Hearts" initiative is to reduce the rate of heart attacks and strokes by one million events over the next five years.

(Queen's University) Urban legend warns shoveling snow causes heart attacks, and the legend seems all too accurate, especially for male wintery excavators with a family history of premature cardiovascular disease.

However, until recently this warning was based on anecdotal reports. Two of the most important cardiology associations in the US include snow -shoveling on their websites as a high risk physical activity, but all the citation references indicate that this warning was based one or two incidents.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A study finds that offering people free medicines after a heart attack can help cut the chances they will suffer another one.

It also saves them about $500 for health care over the next year without raising costs for insurers....

Merck's anti-clotting drug flops in key trial (AP) — A blood thinner being developed by Merck has flopped in a major study aimed at preventing heart attacks, strokes and other problems in people who had suffered a heart attack or severe chest pain from clogged arteries.

(MedPage Today) -- Physicians who encounter myocardial infarction in teenagers should consider the possibility that the teens may have ingested K2, a form of synthetic cannabinoid, researchers said.

Three Texas teens suffered major heart attacks after smoking an herbal mixture sold under various brand names such as K2 and Spice Gold.

(MedPage Today) -- Heavy air pollution may trigger heart attacks in the hours after exposure, but it doesn't boost overall short-term risk, researchers found.

Exposure to heavy traffic fumes raises heart attack risk for the following six hours, researchers discover.

(Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care) Elevated blood cholesterol levels are regarded as a risk factor for heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases.

However, this does not necessarily mean that every cholesterol-lowering drug can also prevent heart attacks. According to the results of the final report, which IQWiG has now published, the benefit of the cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe is unclear.

In particular, proof is lacking that patients have a greater benefit if they take ezetimibe in addition to statins for the prevention of heart attacks.

A new study shows an increase in the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events among smokers who take the drug Chantix to help them quit.