According to a recent Harvard University study, each year 1.65 million people die worldwide from high-sodium diets that lead to heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular disease. The review of existing research found that most people eat far more salt than recommended, and salt is a major

For decades, researchers have known that the brain controls the diameter of the peripheral arteries, the vessels that carry blood to the arms, legs, hands and feet. Electrical impulses from the brain travel to these arteries through a network of nerves known as the sympathetic nervous system

At the big-picture level, we understand the risk factors for a heart attack, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and genetics. We also know that a heart attack is caused when plaque buildup in the wall of a coronary artery ruptures and blocks the blood vessel. What

Researcher Thomas Lagace, PhD, first came across the protein PCSK9 as a postdoctoral fellow, never guessing that it would become the focus of his career. While starting his post-doc at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, he was placed “kind of kicking and screaming,” as he put it, on a

The good news is that their hearts are in the right place. Women in Canada see themselves as their families’ “heart keepers,” playing a significant role in maintaining everyone’s heart health, whether it’s the food they serve, the physical activity they encourage, or the non-smoking households they

[Editor’s note: This article is an update of a previously published story.] Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women worldwide, yet it remains under-diagnosed and symptoms often go unrecognized. In July of this year, the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre published the results of a