#cardiovascular

#cardiovascular

"I didn't even know I had high blood pressure," one Redditor wrote in a thread. Compared to a healthy blood pressure reading that maxes out at 120/80 mm Hg, this poster came in at 218/124, which is well above the threshold for a medical emergency.

According to a growing body of research, the circumference of your neck could be an indicator of a higher likelihood of serious metabolic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and sleep disorders. Another troubling fact is that even if your body mass index (BMI) index is healthy, just how large your neck is could still be a determining factor in your predisposition to developing these conditions.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the airway repeatedly collapses during sleep, briefly stopping breathing. Each pause lowers oxygen levels and forces the brain to wake the body just enough to reopen the airway. These interruptions may happen dozens or even hundreds of times in one night. While many people don't remember waking up, the body still experiences repeated stress responses.

Some 1 million patients in the U.S. live with a type of heart disease called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF, caused by a stiffening of a chamber of the heart that makes it much more challenging to distribute blood throughout the body. The condition has few approved therapies and high mortality rates.

Many other higher-income countries are grappling with rising obesity and diabetes, but the U.S. stands out for how consistently those risks translate into worse cardiovascular outcomes, and how wide the gaps are by income, race, ethnicity, and geography.

For decades, we've divided health into neat categories: mental health on one side, physical health on the other. The brain over here. The heart over there. Different specialists. Different appointments. Different silos. But biology doesn't respect those boundaries-and neither does depression. A growing body of research now makes something unmistakably clear: Depression is not only a disorder of mood and motivation; it is also a condition that affects the heart, blood vessels, and our long-term cardiovascular risk.

Apple has steadily expanded the Apple Watch's health monitoring features over the years, moving beyond fitness tracking into areas that can offer early insight into potential medical concerns. One of the most recent additions is hypertension alerts, which are designed to notify users when their blood pressure trends are elevated over time. While Apple Watches cannot directly measure blood pressure, this feature can still play a useful role in highlighting patterns that may be worth discussing with your doctor.

I hate to admit it, but Steve was right. Years ago, I directed a hospital-based weight-loss program. In addition to the nutritional advice from the hospital dietitian and the psychology groups and individual counseling sessions I provided, the program included a beginning aerobic class for the participants. Steve, a personal trainer at the hospital-owned gym, was tasked with leading the twice-weekly "aerobics for beginners" class.

Since 1990, the incidence of hypertension has increased globally, with up to one in three adults worldwide affected by it. Most of those people have no idea they have it. If people could diagnose and monitor hypertension at home, the World Health Organization estimates that up to 76 million lives could be saved with easy fixes, like stopping smoking or adjusting diet.

These strategies work best for people without existing heart disease, and under the guidance of a healthcare provider. High cholesterol may not cause noticeable symptoms, but it quietly raises the risk of heart attack and stroke over time. Statins are the gold standard treatment in Western medicine, but they come with side effects and long-term risks. Fortunately, many people can improve their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol levels through diet, movement, and targeted supplements.

Adults who sleep fewer than seven hours each night are more likely to experience health problems.

As he got older, the symptoms like irregular heartbeat worsened. Balmes worked construction in Orlando, Florida, and assumed his job was partly to blame for his exhaustion. By the time he hit 30, Balmes noticed he was often short of breath when he tried to keep up with his young daughter. He had also gained weight and felt bloated. When the symptoms became too severe to ignore, he wound up in the emergency room.

Lifepro: FlexCycle Plus Exercise Bike Work out anytime you're seated with this compact under-desk bike. Its smooth, quiet ride lets you pedal while watching TV or during a meeting, making it easy to multitask. It comes with resistance bands and arm pedals for an upper-body workout, plus eight resistance levels for all skill levels. Track your progress on the built-in monitor or sync with the free app to see your miles, minutes, and calories. Free shipping included.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans aim to translate the most up-to-date nutrition science into practical advice for the public as well as to guide federal policy for programs such as school lunches. But the newest version of the guidelines, released on Jan. 7, 2026, seems to be spurring more confusion than clarity about what people should be eating. The latest dietary guidelines, published on Jan. 7, 2026, have received mixed reviews from nutrition experts.

A common diabetes medication does not help people with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and without diabetes walk farther, according to results from a major U.S. clinical trial published in JAMA. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a serious condition that affects blood flow to the legs, making walking painful and difficult. It impacts approximately 12 million adults in the U.S. and is linked to higher risks of heart attack and stroke.

A groundbreaking study found that adults who sit for 10 or more hours daily face a significantly higher risk of dementia compared to those who sit less. The research, which tracked over 50,000 adults using wearable devices, revealed that the risk increases dramatically after crossing that 10-hour threshold.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to exercise - doing a variety of different physical activities every week is the key to boosting your health and living longer, a study suggests. After tracking the weekly exercise habits of 110,000 men and women in the US for 30 years, researchers found active people who did the greatest variety of exercise were 19% less likely to die during that time than those who focused on one activity. That effect was greater than for individual sports like walking, tennis, rowing and jogging. The total amount of exercise you do is still key, experts say, but doing a range of activities you enjoy can bring lots of benefits.

I think this is a fairly recognized phenomenon,

"When you do this job long enough, you understand that breast cancer is nondiscriminatory," Hwang told Business Insider. "I spent a lot of time thinking, why me? If I knew why I got cancer, then I would know how to prevent it from coming back."