Doctors may soon be able to tell just how sick a heart failure patient really is by using a routine MRI scan, thanks to new research from the University of East Anglia. People with heart failure often need a test called right heart catheterisation, where a tube is inserted into the heart to measure oxygen levels in the blood. This helps doctors understand how severe the condition is. But the invasive procedure is far from pleasant and carries risks, especially for older, frail or unwell patients. The UEA team developed a way to estimate this crucial measurement of blood oxygen using a standard cardiac MRI. Now, they hope their findings could potentially spare thousands from undergoing the risky tube procedure in future.

Historical data indicate that men develop coronary heart disease (CHD) 10 years before women. A recent study in the Journal of the American Heart Association indicates that this sex gap still remains.

Middle-aged and older adults — particularly women — who are naturally more active in the evenings may have worse cardiovascular health, as measured by the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 metric, in comparison to peers without a strong morning or evening preference.

A new scientific statement from the American Heart Association and endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists details risk factors for pregnancy-related stroke and offers suggestions for stroke prevention, rapid diagnosis, timely treatment and recovery during pregnancy and postpartum.

Men begin developing coronary heart disease — which can lead to heart attacks — years earlier than women, with differences emerging as early as the mid-30s, according to a large, long-term study led by Northwestern Medicine. The findings, based on more than three decades of patient follow-up, suggest that heart disease prevention and screening should start earlier in adulthood, particularly for men.

A new study from Penn State College of Medicine researchers finds that an immune cell usually involved in fighting infections and promoting wound healing become overly activated in failing human hearts, causing damage.