Environmental cardiology studies how pollution, industrialized food, urban heat, and the loss of green spaces directly influence the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular diseases. Protecting the air, water, and vegetation becomes a preventive measure as essential as quitting smoking or combating physical inactivity.
Nitrates, such as nitroglycerin and isosorbide mononitrate, are used to treat or prevent angina and high blood pressure. Learn how to take them, their possible side effects, safety precautions, and the important warning about combining them with erectile dysfunction treatments.
Testimony of a woman living with a bicuspid aortic valve (a two-leaflet aortic valve). She shares her life journey, pregnancies, medical follow-up, and hopes — showing that it’s possible to live fully with this congenital heart condition.
Takotsubo syndrome, also known as “broken heart syndrome,” is a stress-induced cardiomyopathy often triggered by an emotional shock. Through this authentic patient story, discover how a traumatic event caused a temporary heart dysfunction, sometimes mistaken for a heart attack. An eye-opening account to better understand this lesser-known condition.
Statins are widely used and well-studied medications that help lower LDL cholesterol and prevent heart attacks and strokes. Their effectiveness and safety have been confirmed by decades of large-scale research and clinical monitoring.
Dr. F. John Lewis performed the first successful open-heart surgery in 1952 by using controlled hypothermia to repair an atrial septal defect, a major milestone in the history of cardiac surgery.
End-of-life care for patients with heart failure aims to ensure comfort and dignity by tailoring treatments to the patient’s wishes and needs, whether at home, in a hospital, or in a specialized unit.
Knowing that a patient with heart failure is at risk of dying in the coming months helps prepare both the patient and their loved ones to express their life goals and plan the appropriate intensity of future care.
ARBs are used to lower blood pressure, promote heart recovery after a heart attack, and strengthen cardiac function. They are easy to identify in a list of medications, as their generic names all end with “sartan.”
Palliative or supportive care complements heart failure treatment from the early stages, helping to improve the patient’s comfort and quality of life throughout their journey. It is provided alongside standard therapies and can be adjusted as the disease progresses, taking into account the person’s needs and priorities.
This site is intended to provide information and make cardiology comprehensible for all patients; it is not a substitute for a doctor. It does, however, enable a better understanding of how the heart works, the many heart diseases that exist, the tests required to reach a diagnosis, and the drugs and other methods used to treat them.
Where the masculine is used herein, it shall be all-gender inclusive.
