The aortic valve opens and closes 100,000 times a day. When it begins to narrow, the heart pays the price. Here is how aortic stenosis develops, how it is diagnosed, and how modern treatment, from open surgery to TAVR, restores flow.
A patent foramen ovale, a small opening in the heart present in around one in four adults, can sound alarming when first mentioned. For most people it is entirely harmless and needs no treatment. Here is when it matters, and when it doesn't.
Your blood pressure reads high at every clinic visit but looks fine at home. White coat hypertension is one of medicine's most common and most misunderstood findings, and getting it right matters more than you might think.
You have a muscle bridge. For most people that sentence means nothing needs doing. For a minority it explains real chest pain, and new research shows how the troublesome ones can be treated.
If you have had a stent placed or been admitted with a heart attack, your cardiologist will have prescribed antiplatelet medication. This article explains what it does, why it matters, and why you should never stop it without speaking to your cardiologist first.
Almost everyone has felt their heart race at some point. Most of the time it is benign and self-limiting. Sometimes it is the sign of an arrhythmia worth identifying. Here is what the different patterns mean and how they are usually approached.
The best scale for weight loss might not be the one in your bathroom. A kitchen scale, used with curiosity rather than obsession, reveals surprising truths about portion sizes that change the way you think about food for good.
The decision between stents and bypass surgery is one of the most consequential in cardiology. Professor Patrick Serruys, who led the trial that created the evidence base for this decision, explains how it is made and what every patient should ask.
A simple, non-invasive CT scan that detects calcified plaque in the arteries years before symptoms appear. If you or someone you know has been referred for a calcium score, this guide explains exactly what it measures, what your result means, and what to do next.
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By Professor Peter Barlis, Interventional Cardiologist and Founding Editor, Heart Matters. Published by Wiley.
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