While communicating with a doctor is key to getting optimal care, it’s not always so easy. Heart patients who complete health status surveys as part of routine care may have better outcomes.

Most people know that smoking and being overweight can harm their physical health. Heart disease risk factors, however, can also impair the ability to think.

While digoxin helps the heart beat stronger, its safety has been debated. One study found the medication to be linked to higher mortality, but re-analysis of the data found no such connection.

Hospital medical records contain a lot of information on the sick and injured. They can especially reveal a lot about those who have chronic conditions.

People with congenital heart disease may worry that exercise could do them more harm than good. Regular physical activity, however, is vital to their overall well-being.

Secondhand smoke exposure during childhood may change cholesterol levels in a way that could increase the risk for heart disease later in life. That risk may not be the same for both genders.

While aspirin is often recommended to lower the risk of heart attack in those with diabetes, new research suggests that it may not always help, and it could do more harm than good.

In college, some young adults might feel invincible. But risky behaviors like binge drinking may disrupt a young adult’s blood flow and put him or her at risk for heart disease later in life.

Here’s an unhappy, but avoidable, bit of information: women with early stage breast cancer may be more likely to die of heart disease than they are of cancer. Recent research looked at the cancer and heart disease link.

After surgery, the body needs to focus on healing. Smoking may interfere with this healing process. People who smoke after surgery could be putting their bodies at serious risk for complications.