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Patients, doctors and researchers lock hands and embrace the COPD National Action Plan. It started as an ordinary press conference—a scientist, a doctor, an advocate, a patient, sitting around a table in the good spirit of enthusiasts breaking new ground. They were about to announce the release of the first National Action Plan to fight chronic...

Pair of studies show harmful changes to arteries, point way to possible treatment For years, researchers have been studying the surprising link between psoriasis—an inflammatory skin disease—and an increased risk for heart disease. Now, a pair of recent studies funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) offer new insights into...

Researchers who study cardiovascular health have long known that exercise is one way to keep high blood pressure at bay. But studies confirming this protective effect have mainly focused on white patients, leaving it unclear whether African Americans, the most vulnerable of all populations, have stood to gain in similar ways. In a new study...

For years, scientists have known about the relationship between depression and heart disease. At least a quarter of cardiac patients suffer with depression, and adults with depression often develop heart disease. What researchers now want to know is “why.” So far, they have unearthed a treasure trove of important clues, but a definitive explanation...

Heart Month outreach saw more than 1,000 blood pressure screenings at churches Priscilla Murphy remembers well those days back in 2005 when her professional nursing sorority first teamed up with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to spread the word about heart disease and women. The idea was use the medical skill and reach of Chi...

MRI image of the blood vessels of the brain.
Courtesy of Dr. Kejal Kantarci from the Department of Radiology at Mayo Clinic.

Exercise does the brain a world of good. But, how? Answer that question and you might crack the code for the treatment and, most importantly, prevention of vascular dementia. It is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, affecting about a third of people over age 70...

Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV (REPRIEVE) needs volunteers. Learn more at http://www.reprievetrial.org.

Not so long ago, living longer was its own reward for people with HIV. Antiretroviral therapy extended lives, gave hope, and silenced what for many had felt like a ticking clock. But for the 1.2 million HIV-positive people in the United States, an extended life has come with its own heart...

A young woman undergoes a test to detect signs of Marfan syndrome. Credit: Tim Joyce and The Marfan Foundation.

For years, people familiar with the rare condition known as Marfan syndrome viewed it as an untreatable disease that too often resulted in early death, mainly from heart problems. The genetic disorder, which acts on the body’s connective tissue, is difficult to diagnose, and nearly half of...

It is the most sweeping—and significant—study ever of cardiovascular disease in African-Americans. Now experts with the groundbreaking Jackson Heart Study (JHS) are taking stock of some of the many insights gleaned since the study began in 2000. They are insights researchers say will go a long way toward helping boost the long-term health of a...

Each year nearly 1,800 U.S. children under age five die of congenital heart defects, and some 60 die while awaiting a heart transplant. A well-designed, miniaturized heart implant could lower those numbers, but achieving this goal has proven elusive. Until now. Last December, the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light for a clinical...