Hip bursitis vs. arthritis: How to tell the difference
Fitness for longevity: Which type matters most?
Ministrokes linked to elevated risk of dementia
Continuous glucose monitors benefit people who don't need insulin
CoQ10: Should you take this popular supplement if you're on a statin?
Microplastics: A hidden health threat?
Oat vs. dairy milk: Nutrition, benefits, and downsides
What is tempeh? Benefits, nutrition, and how to use it
Healing after food poisoning
Whole grains may improve several heart risk factors at once
Medical devices Archive
Articles
What to do if your medication is recalled
Drug recalls don't necessarily affect every batch of a pill or potion. You'll need to do a little homework before you stop taking your medication.
We take prescription and over-the-counter medications to get better or avoid getting sick. We know drug side effects can make us feel ill. But we don't imagine that medications can contain toxic impurities. Yet, it happens. Recently, for example, dozens of prescription blood pressure pills (angiotensin-receptor blockers, or ARBs) containing trace amounts of potentially cancer-causing compounds were recalled.
Recalls happen frequently. Sometimes, the FDA finds the manufacturing process to be defective. Other times, a dangerous side effect that was initially not apparent becomes clear later. "Some medication recalls are for problems that are not very serious, but the products have to be recalled nonetheless," says Joanne Doyle Petrongolo, a pharmacist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Sex hormones and your heart
Here's the latest thinking about how estrogen or testosterone therapy may affect cardiovascular risk.
The two main sex hormones — estrogen and testosterone — have wide-ranging effects in the body. Produced primarily by the ovaries (estrogen) and testes (testosterone), these hormones affect not just your sexual function but also your bones, brain, and blood vessels, for example.
As people age, the natural decline in sex hormone levels sometimes causes undesirable symptoms, such as hot flashes or a flagging sex drive. Doctors can prescribe pills, patches, gels, and creams containing estrogen or testosterone to ease those symptoms. But are these products safe for your heart?
Lessons from the blood pressure drug recall
Here's what you need to know about the discovery of contaminants in a popular class of heart medications.
Last summer, a number of prescription medications containing the generic drug valsartan were recalled by manufacturers after investigators found trace amounts of possible cancer-causing impurities in some of the products. Over the following months, additional lots of valsartan, as well as batches of two similar drugs, losartan and irbesartan, were also pulled from pharmacy shelves.
All three of these drugs belong to a class of medications known as angiotensin-receptor blockers, or ARBs. These drugs block the effects of a hormone that narrows blood vessels and are used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. The recalled products also include combination drugs that contain one of those three ARBs. (See "Medication recall information" for accessing the list of affected products.)
After hospitalization for heart disease: Avoid opioid drugs?
Research we're watching
People with heart disease who leave the hospital with a prescription for opioids may be more likely to miss follow-up care than those not prescribed opioids, a new study finds.
The study included nearly 2,500 people (mostly white men with an average age of 60) who were discharged from a university medical center after a heart attack or sudden heart failure. One in five were prescribed the powerful pain relievers known as opioids. Those people were less likely to follow up with their health care provider or to participate in cardiac rehabilitation than those not prescribed opioids.
Can blood pressure medications interfere with my sex drive?
On call
Q. I know that erectile dysfunction can be a common side effect of blood pressure medications, but can they also lower my sex drive?
A. Sexual issues are a side effect of many medications, including ones prescribed to lower blood pressure. You're correct that erectile dysfunction (ED) is mentioned most frequently. But blood pressure medicines also can decrease sexual drive or make it more difficult to reach orgasm.
Get healthy for vacation
Don't neglect healthy habits when planning your summer travels.
Before you leave for summer vacation, don't forget to pack some good health.
"While you should follow healthy habits year-round, you should give extra attention to certain areas when you travel, since you are often more active than usual," says Dr. Wynne Armand, a primary care physician at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Taking osteoporosis drugs shouldn't prevent you from getting oral surgery
A drug holiday is one recommendation to reduce the risk of a rare bone condition that affects the jaw.
A dentist refers a woman to an oral surgeon because she needs a tooth pulled. But upon reviewing her chart, the oral surgeon turns her away.
The reason? She's taking a common medication to treat her osteoporosis, a condition that causes bones to become thin, brittle, and prone to fracture.
Muscle aches from statins: Real, but sometimes imagined?
The "nocebo effect" may explain why some people believe they can't tolerate statins.
For more than 20 years, cholesterol-lowering statin drugs have been a mainstay for preventing and treating heart disease. But up to half of people prescribed these drugs are no longer taking them within a year or two. The reasons vary, but some people experience what they believe to be statin-related side effects — most often muscle pain. Others avoid statins altogether because of worries over side effects.
"Far too any people think they cannot tolerate statins when they actually can," explains Dr. Jorge Plutzky, director of preventive cardiology at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. To be clear, muscle problems are a known side effect of statins. However, serious muscle-related complications are extremely rare (see "What is rhabdomyolysis?"). And when people experience the more common — but less worrisome — muscle-related symptoms, those issues usually resolve with a lower statin dose or a change to a different statin, Dr. Plutzky says.
What happens if my stent stops working?
Ask the doctor
Q. I just got a stent placed in my heart artery and feel great again. If it develops problems, can it be treated?
A. Stents, the tiny wire-mesh tubes used to prop open blocked arteries, are useful for treating heart attacks and chest pain that occurs with physical activity. They're placed during a coronary angioplasty and stenting procedure, which usually involves snaking a thin tube (catheter) through a vessel in the upper thigh or the wrist up to the heart. After more than two decades of use, today's stents are safer and more effective that the original versions. Problems can still arise, but they are uncommon and treatable.
Heart rhythm monitoring with a smartwatch
These wrist-worn devices are better than ever at gathering data. But it's still too early to use them to screen for atrial fibrillation.
The original wristband monitors were pretty basic: they tracked your movement and tallied your daily steps. But before long, these digital devices could also estimate your heart rate, thanks to a sensor that measures changes in blood flow through your skin. Now, there are smartwatches with special sensors that can record a tracing of your heart's electrical signature (electrocardiogram or ECG) and alert you if it detects an irregular rhythm.
Last fall, the FDA granted Apple approval for the ECG sensor and an app that includes an algorithm to detect atrial fibrillation, or afib, the most common heart rhythm disorder (see "What is atrial fibrillation?"). While the Apple Watch Series 4 is the first of its kind to offer this feature, other companies have similar technologies in the works.
Hip bursitis vs. arthritis: How to tell the difference
Fitness for longevity: Which type matters most?
Ministrokes linked to elevated risk of dementia
Continuous glucose monitors benefit people who don't need insulin
CoQ10: Should you take this popular supplement if you're on a statin?
Microplastics: A hidden health threat?
Oat vs. dairy milk: Nutrition, benefits, and downsides
What is tempeh? Benefits, nutrition, and how to use it
Healing after food poisoning
Whole grains may improve several heart risk factors at once
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