High or abnormal cholesterol levels, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction play a key role in atherosclerosis and plaque buildup, the most common cause of heart attacks and strokes. (Endothelial dysfunction refers to impaired functioning of the inner lining of blood vessels on the heart’s surface. It results in these vessels inappropriately ...
Read More »Does your health monitor have device bias?
In recent years, there’s been a veritable explosion in the number and type of health monitoring devices available in smartphones and fitness apps. Your smartphone is likely tracking the number of steps you take, how far and fast you walk, and how many flights of stairs you climb each day. ...
Read More »How does sleep affect your heart rate?
Even if you don’t wear a smartwatch or fitness band to track your heart rate, you can often sense your pulse fluctuating throughout the day. During your waking hours, the number of heartbeats per minute when you’re just sitting quietly is known as your resting heart rate. In most adults, ...
Read More »Exercise matters to health and well-being, regardless of your size
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc in our daily lives. Regardless of who you are, your life has been impacted in some way. Stress is mounting, and you may need to find a way to decompress while social distancing. Enter stage left my favorite pastime: exercise! All right, ...
Read More »COVID-19 and the heart: What have we learned?
Early in the pandemic, epidemiologists made a striking observation. Compared to the general population, people with cardiovascular disease (CVD) were more than twice as likely to contract severe forms of COVID-19. In the last six months, death rates from COVID-19 have dropped significantly, but CVD remains a major predictor of ...
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