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Features Related to Heart Disease

Do You Know Which Symptoms Signal a Heart Attack in Women?

Most women know the symptoms of a heart attack -- squeezing chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea. But as it turns out, these symptoms are more typical for males. Female heart attacks can be quite different -- and it’s important for all women to learn the warning signs. Rhonda Monroe's story is a
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Shocking Heart Deaths: Why They Happen

Someone in the prime of their life -- a professional sports star, teen athlete, marathon runner, or other seemingly healthy person -- isn't supposed to collapse and die from heart disease. But it occasionally happens, making sudden cardiac arrest front-page news. The rare nature of sudden cardiac ar
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How to Wreck Your Heart

When it comes to the heart’s health, there are some things you can’t control -- like getting older, or having a parent with heart disease. But there are many more things you can do to lower the chances of sabotaging your ticker. “An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure in this instanc
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My WebMD: In My 20s With a Pacemaker

"Does your bra really go up that high?" the TSA officer asked, running her hands along my chest. My boyfriend, Adam, and I were headed for a romantic getaway, and being held at airport security wasn't on our itinerary. "I have a pacemaker. That's a scar, not my bra," I said. "You're too young for t
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12 Possible Heart Symptoms Never to Ignore

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of U.S. men and women, accounting for 40% of all U.S. deaths. That's more than all forms of cancer combined. Why is heart disease so deadly? One reason is that many people are slow to seek help when symptoms arise. Yes, someone gripped by sudden chest pain probably
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5 Heart Rate Myths Debunked

Most of the time, you’re probably blissfully unaware of your heart's ceaseless activity -- nearly 100,000 beats per day, or about 37 million beats per year and 3 billion in an average lifetime. But not always. Maybe your pulse suddenly races for no apparent reason. Maybe your heart throbs. Maybe it
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Do You Really Need Bypass Surgery?

It's the news you don't want to hear from your cardiologist: One or more of your coronary arteries -- the blood vessels that supply blood to your heart -- is blocked. You have coronary artery disease, the No. 1 killer of U.S. adults. So does this mean you're headed for bypass surgery? Maybe not, if
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Can You Reverse Heart Disease?

Imagine that you’ve just left your cardiologist’s office. He’s told you that you have to make some changes. Your blood pressure is way over the limit at 170 over 100 and your LDL cholesterol (that’s the “bad” kind) is hovering right around 200. He conducted an exercise cardiac stress test, putting y
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How Can I Prevent Heart Disease?

In every issue of WebMD the Magazine, we ask our experts to answer readers' questions about a wide range of topics. In our September 2011 issue, we gave a reader's question about preventing heart disease to James Beckerman, MD, WebMD's heart health expert. Q : Heart disease runs in my family. What c
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The Dangers of High Cholesterol

When Ramona Richman's older sister was diagnosed with high cholesterol, Richman wasn't worried about her own risk. The San Francisco Bay Area stay-at-home mom had her weight under control and assumed that her diet was healthy. So when her doctor broke the news that she, too, had high cholesterol, sh
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