Heart & Circulation, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 13, 2023

9 heart disease risk factors, according to experts

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 1 in 5 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It encompasses a range of conditions, including blood vessel diseases such as coronary artery disease, problems with heart rhythm, and congenital heart...

Feb 21, 2023

Atrial fibrillation and arrhythmia: Causes, symptoms and treatment

An arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, is a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. People with this condition may have a heart that beats too quickly, too slowly or has an irregular rhythm. While it is normal to feel as if your heart skips a beat occasionally, a...

Feb 27, 2023

Stroke: Symptoms, tests and treatment

A stroke is a serious and potentially life threatening medical condition that occurs when the flow of blood to the brain is disrupted. Blood carries oxygen to the brain, which controls all of the body's functions. Without oxygen-rich blood, the brain begins to shut down. If blood flow cannot reach...

Mar 1, 2023

Artificial sweetener may increase risk of heart attack and stroke, study finds

A popular zero-calorie sweetener is being linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study finds. Known as erythritol, the sugar substitute occurs naturally at low levels in some plants, like grapes and mushrooms, but is also produced industrially and added to food at higher concentrations....

Mar 14, 2023

Beating 'hearts on a chip' will travel to space on SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship tonight

SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship is scheduled to launch Tuesday (March 14) evening, carrying nearly 6,300 pounds (2,860 kilograms) of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). But among the spacewalk equipment, vehicle hardware and fresh fruit for the crew, there will be several small devices that contain something a little...

Mar 30, 2023

What is normal blood pressure?

Blood pressure is one of the vital signs that doctors measure to assess their patients' general health. When the heart pumps blood through the arteries — the tubes that carry oxygenated blood away from the heart — the blood puts pressure on the artery walls. Having blood pressure measures consistently...

Apr 13, 2023

Coronary artery disease (CAD): Causes, diagnosis and treatment

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common type of heart disease and occurs when plaque buildup narrows or blocks one or more of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. The term is often used interchangeably with coronary heart disease (CHD). Specifically, CAD is a problem of one...

May 17, 2023

What happens during a heart attack?

A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), is when blood flow to part of the heart muscle (myocardium) is blocked and that part of the organ does not get enough blood. When their blood supply is reduced, muscle cells in the heart get damaged and die. The more time that...

May 25, 2023

In rare case, man develops painful deep vein blood clots following brown recluse spider bite

In the first known case of its kind, a man in Michigan developed recurrent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in both legs after reportedly being bitten by a brown recluse spider. Previously, no case of deep vein thrombosis has been reported following a brown recluse spider bite, according to a new...

Jun 12, 2023

'Reanimated' hearts can be successfully transplanted and could expand donor pool

A method for reanimating organ donors' hearts works just as well as the standard approach to collecting hearts for transplantation, new trial data shows. If widely applied, the method could increase the heart donor pool by an estimated 30%. Honestly if we could snap our fingers and just get people...

Jul 20, 2023

Scientists may have found the missing link between heart disease and sleep problems

People with heart disease often develop dreadful sleep problems, and now, scientists have identified a direct link between these conditions for the first time in a new study in mice and human tissues. Published Thursday (July 20) in the journal Science, the research shows that heart disease may derail the...

Jul 21, 2023

Fluid leaked from scuba diver's blood vessels after 100-foot cave dive in rare medical case

In an extremely rare medical case, a scuba diver who descended deep into an underwater cave developed a deadly blood syndrome in which fluid leaked out of his blood vessels. The syndrome was a strange complication of decompression sickness, or the bends, in which air bubbles form in the blood...

Aug 31, 2023

Fast-spinning ride at county fair triggers stroke in a young woman in unusual case

A trip to a local county fair ended with a young woman developing a stroke and being rushed to the hospital after going on a new ride. Halfway through the ride, which swings fairgoers rapidly in circles, the 37-year-old woman started to develop a headache and lost coordination of the...

Sep 26, 2023

Why are some people's veins 'hard to find'?

Most people will take a blood test at some point in their life, and commonly, this requires blood to be drawn from the vein on the inside surface of the elbow. However, this simple procedure can sometimes become a bruise-inducing ordeal when health care providers struggle to locate patients' veins....

Oct 3, 2023

Why do you get dizzy if you stand up too fast?

You stand up quickly from the couch, and for a few seconds, you struggle to see and maintain your balance as your surroundings suddenly plunge into darkness. This common-yet-unnerving experience raises a question: Why do you sometimes get dizzy when you stand up, and why can your vision go dark?...