July 17, 2020

AHA News: Nurse Misreads Symptoms of Her Own Heart Attack

TUESDAY, July 7, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- At her new job as a nurse at a college in St. Louis, Roslyn Harvey spent most of her day sitting at a desk. So, when she felt breathless walking across campus or climbing stairs, she figured she was out of shape.

To get fit, she started walking 15-20 minutes on a treadmill before work. Then one evening, Roslyn came home from work so exhausted she dozed off while sitting at her kitchen table. She jolted awake, surprised at her tiredness and sensing a sharp pain in her left shoulder and pressure in her chest.

July 12, 2020

Preterm Birth Ups Mom's Long-Term Heart Disease Risk: Study

MONDAY, June 29, 2020 -- Over a lifetime, women who've had a preterm delivery have a higher risk of heart disease, new research suggests.

The findings point to the fact that doctors should include a woman's reproductive history in assessments of heart disease risk, according to the researchers.

June 19, 2020

Woman With COVID-19 Develops Serious Heart Ailment After Taking Chloroquine

THURSDAY, June 18, 2020 -- One of the drugs championed by President Donald Trump as a potential "game changer" in the coronavirus pandemic led to a potentially deadly heart rhythm disorder in a 84-year-old woman treated for COVID-19, according to a new report.

Doctors said her condition improved once they discontinued the drug, chloroquine.

June 15, 2020

AHA News: Pregnant Women With Heart Defects Don't Always Get This Recommended Test

MONDAY, June 8, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- Women with heart defects experience far more cardiovascular problems during pregnancy than those without, yet only half get a recommended test to assess their heart health before giving birth, according to new research.

The study, published Monday in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, found that during pregnancy, women with congenital heart disease experienced adverse conditions 34 to 63 times more often than those without heart defects. The conditions included high blood pressure in the lungs, heart rate problems, dangerous heart rhythms and cardiac arrest. But just 56% of these women received the comprehensive echocardiograms experts recommend.