Topic: heart disease

Sahara Davenport, 27, Died Of Heart Failure, According To Family

Sahara Davenport, 27, Died Of Heart Failure, According To Family

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that model, dancer, and drag queen Antoine Ashley, who performed under the name Sahara Davenport had died. He was just 27–and his death left many stunned, heartbroken, and full of questions. Then, late last night, his family left a message on his Facebook fan page and released an official statement through NewNowNext. The cause of death was heart failure. More »

Major Cracks In Study Saying Egg Yolk Consumption As Bad As Smoking

Major Cracks In Study Saying Egg Yolk Consumption As Bad As Smoking

Earlier this week, the Internet was filled with the news that “you might as well be a smoker if you eat eggs,” as our Deborah put it. What’s that joke about someone on the Internet being wrong? Well, whatever: Someone on the Internet was wrong! But not just on the Internet, I guess, because this news came from a fancy study published in a fancy journal called Atherosclerosis. But it was still wrong. Or at least not right. Eat your (cage-free, organic) eggs, people! And don’t smoke. More »

The Scary Heart Condition That Affects Young, Healthy Women

The Scary Heart Condition That Affects Young, Healthy Women

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection, or SCAD, is a heart condition that usually strikes young, healthy people—mainly women. It’s relatively rare, but it can lead to heart damage or even sudden death. Scary, right? Especially because most people have never heard of it. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN are starting to find out more about this little-understood condition. More »

Study Warns Exercise Could Increase Heart Disease Risk. Alarmist Much?

Study Warns Exercise Could Increase Heart Disease Risk. Alarmist Much?

A new study claims that exercise may increase heart disease risk for some healthy people. You heard that right: exercise might be bad for you. Published in the peer-reviewed science journal PLoS One, the study found that exercise might actually increase the risk of high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease. Wait, what? Doesn’t that go against everything we’ve been told about exercise, well, ever? More »

HDL Won’t Protect Against Heart Disease, Says Study Proving ‘Good’ Cholesterol Is Wishful Thinking

HDL Won't Protect Against Heart Disease, Says Study Proving 'Good' Cholesterol Is Wishful Thinking

A new study was released earlier this week that says HDL–otherwise known as “good cholesterol” by everyone from doctors to the CDC, because of its association with a lower risk of heart disease–may not do much to lower your risk of heart disease. This is particularly troublesome news for pharmaceutical companies and their researchers, who’ve invested huge sums of money and time searching for drugs to raise HDL levels, but it’s not altogether bad news for our health, as some headlines have made it out to be. Mostly, it just means that instead of looking for ways to manipulate HDL levels directly, we should be looking at the genes and habits of people with high HDL to figure out what’s really boosting their heart health. More »

What Young Women Should Know About High Blood Pressure: It’s Not Just For Old People

What Young Women Should Know About High Blood Pressure: It's Not Just For Old People

In my mid-20s, I thought high blood pressure (aka hypertension) was something only people my parent’s age had to worry about. It’s not. A number of things—alcohol, birth control pill, diet, pregnancy or, as I found out, a combination of stress + drinking a latte and smoking a cigarette before your doctor’s appointment—can lead to high blood pressure in younger women (and men). And high blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke and kidney damage, no matter how old you are. More »

Study: Diet Soda Drinkers More Prone To Heart Disease…Because They’re Less Healthy

Study: Diet Soda Drinkers More Prone To Heart Disease...Because They're Less Healthy

For a while now, health studies have shown that diet soda consumption is linked to higher rates of heart disease, stroke, and even weight gain. But is it because diet soda itself causes these things–or is it, as a group of researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine point out in a recently published article, because older diet soda drinkers just tend to be less healthy and more overweight? And if that’s the case, why are they still drinking it? Could it be because diet soda continues to represent itself as the heart-healthy option? More »

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