EurekAlert! In the Spotlight - Heart Health Month

Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

In recognition of Heart Health Month, we’re spotlighting the importance of cardiovascular wellness. From risk factors and prevention to innovative treatments, we’re exploring the science and stories shaping heart health today.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 25-Jul-2025 14:10 ET (25-Jul-2025 18:10 GMT/UTC)

2-May-2025

The all-female Korean Haenyeo divers show genetic adaptions to cold water diving

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The Haenyeo, a group of all-female divers from the Korean island of Jeju, are renowned for their ability to dive in frigid waters without the aid of breathing equipment — even while pregnant. A study publishing on May 2 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports shows that the divers’ remarkable abilities are due to both training and genetic adaptation, including gene variants associated with cold tolerance and decreased blood pressure. The divers also showed pronounced bradycardia, or slowing of the heart rate, when they dived, but this trait is likely due to a lifetime of training, not genetics.

Journal: Cell Reports
Funder: Office of Naval Research, NIH/National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation

2-May-2025

Large-scale heart failure initiative boosts use of lifesaving medications

American Heart Association
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new analysis published in Circulation: Heart Failure shows hospitals participating in the American Heart Association’s multiregional IMPLEMENT-HF™ initiative significantly improved adherence to guideline-directed medical therapy for patients hospitalized with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), the most common type of heart failure.

1-May-2025

Is your heart aging too fast?

University of East Anglia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have developed a revolutionary new way to find out the 'true age' of your heart using MRI. A new study shows how an MRI scan can reveal your heart’s functional age - and how unhealthy lifestyles can dramatically accelerate this figure. It is hoped that the findings could transform how heart disease is diagnosed - offering a lifeline to millions by catching problems before they become deadly. The team say their cutting-edge technique is a “game changer”.

Journal: Open Heart
Funder: Wellcome Trust

1-May-2025

With CCTA poised to transform PCI planning, SCAI/SCCT publish expert opinion document

Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new expert opinion document jointly released by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) presents a comprehensive framework for using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Journal: Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions

1-May-2025

Springing into action after a sedentary season? Here's how to protect your heart

Mayo Clinic

Around the world, people are starting to engage in outdoor activities after a winter spent largely indoors and perhaps with less physical activity than during more temperate seasons. In other climates, people may be starting an indoor, less-active time. Gosia Wamil, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London, offers five tips to protect your heart when you spring into action after a sedentary period.

1-May-2025

Know the stroke signs and save lives this American Stroke Month

American Heart Association

During May, American Stroke Month, the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, is raising awareness nationwide that stroke is largely preventable, treatable and beatable.

1-May-2025

Society for Vascular Medicine publishes scientific statement on research priorities for peripheral artery disease

SAGE
Peer-Reviewed Publication

It has been estimated that lower-extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects approximately 236 million people worldwide and at least 8 million people in the United States (US). Published today in Vascular Medicine is a report from the Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM) that identifies the highest priority topics for future investigation in PAD across all domains of research, including epidemiology, basic science and translational science, clinical research, and implementation studies.