Heart Disease Treatment

Heart medications may help fight heart disease, but diet and exercise are essential to preventing complications, says cardiologist Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD. In this video, Dr. McLaughlin discusses how exercise and a healthy diet can improve your risk. Full Answer

The heart is a pump, and like any pump it can develop plumbing problems. Sometimes that means correcting the problem through a medical procedure or surgery, which can be lifesaving. It might also mean taking medication, if necessary, to keep your... Full Answer

If you have heart disease and are not in need of emergency surgery, such as bypass, angioplasty, or stent placement, you can reverse your heart disease by eliminating the behaviors that have contributed to your condition and picking up healthy new... Full Answer

A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a pump that assists a weakened heart by pumping blood to the body. These devices are used as a means of improving the quality of life for end stage heart failure patients while waiting for a heart transplant and in... Full Answer

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) are used in the treatment of three-vessel disease, decompensated congestive heart failure, complex coronary lesions (including bifurcation lesions) and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).... Full Answer

Balloon valvuloplasty is a procedure in which the narrowed heart valve is stretched open without open-heart surgery. For select patients with aortic stenosis and for the majority of patients with pulmonic stenosis or mitral stenosis, valvuloplasty is a... Full Answer

A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a pump that assists a failing ventricle (one of the heart's lower chambers) by pumping blood to the body. These devices are also used as a means of improving the quality of life for end stage heart failure patients... Full Answer

A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a pump that assists a failing ventricle (one of the heart's lower chambers) by pumping blood to the body. The surgeon connects the pump to the heart by using a tube that is made for this specific use. The blood... Full Answer

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are used to treat people with advanced heart failure -- people whose hearts have been irreversibly damaged and are no longer able to perform their pumping functions adequately despite optimal medical therapy. According... Full Answer

Statins are prescribed in patients with a diagnosis of dyslipidemia (aka, high cholesterol) when LDL-cholesterol is above the recommended goal value. Statins can be used in addition to changing your lifestyle through diet and exercise. Full Answer