Hearts: Not created equal
The size and pumping ability of the right side of your heart is affected by your age, gender and race, according to a new study. The findings were published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to look at the right ventricles of 4,204 men and women. They found that the right ventricle:
- is smaller but pumps more forcefully in older adults
- is smaller in women than in men
- when compared to that in Caucasians, is smaller in African-Americans and larger in Hispanics In the future, researchers will look at the study participants to see how the right ventricle changes in the next five years.
How good cholesterol works
When it comes to cholesterol, there’s a good guy and a bad guy. The bad guy is your low-density lipoprotein (LDL). If you have too much LDL cholesterol, it can gunk up your arteries and cause them to harden. This increases your risk for a heart attack or stroke. Enter the good guy: high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL acts like an internal mop, wiping up excess cholesterol and carrying it away. It’s been difficult for scientists to understand exactly how HDL works. That changed recently when scientists were able to create a 3-D HDL model, according to a report in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. Having this model will give researchers new insights into HDL. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to know your numbers by getting routine cholesterol screenings and making healthy lifestyle choices as advised by your physician.
Heart defect linked to pediatric migraines
Researchers have found a link between a common, usually benign, heart defect and childhood migraine headaches. The heart defect tied to pediatric migraines is called patent foramen ovale (PFO). When a baby is growing in the womb, a small opening exists between the upper-right and left chambers of the heart. Normally, this flaplike opening closes within a year or two after birth. But in 25 percent of people, it remains open. Past studies have linked this condition to adult migraines. Researchers wanted to see if the same was true in children. They studied children between ages 6 and 18 who were diagnosed with migraines. Half of the children who had migraines with “aura” symptoms also had a PFO. That’s double the rate among the general population. However, among children who had migraines without aura, only 25 percent had a PFO. Researchers note that if further studies determine that a PFO causes migraines, doctors may be able to treat them by closing the PFO with a catheter device.
Did you know?
- Vitamin D helps your body absorb the amount of calcium needed to develop strong bones.
- Community-acquired pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs and can be caused by a bacterium, virus, fungus or parasite.
- Sleet is rain that turns to ice before reaching the ground, usually during the winter months, while hail consists of frozen chunks of ice that fall from the clouds, usually during summer thunderstorms.