Heart & Metabolic

Cholesterol & heart

A stethoscope, blue ECG electrode pads and small pots of white tablets resting on an ECG printout.

7 to 9.5 fewer years of life linked to heart disease, fatty liver, diabetes and obesity together

Oct 16, 2026

Hands in blue gloves draw blood with a syringe from the inside of an arm that has a teal tourniquet above the elbow.

No blood test differed after fasts past 12 hours, and only a few after short fasts, in 101,148 patients

Oct 9, 2026

A glass of water with a few orange tablets beside it on a pink surface.

Orforglipron pill was no worse for the heart than insulin in a 2,749-person diabetes safety trial

Oct 9, 2026

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HPV infection linked to 7% higher cardiovascular disease risk in a study of 3 million Swedish women

Oct 4, 2026

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Long working hours and stroke: working 55 hours a week was tied to a one-third higher risk

Oct 4, 2026

A blood glucose meter, two syringes, tablets and a lancet pen laid out on a purple background

Heart benefit of GLP-1 drugs faded after people stopped, in 333,687 US veterans with type 2 diabetes

Sep 23, 2026

A teaspoon resting in a spread of white sweetener crystals

Blood erythritol falling during weight loss went with slightly better heart risk scores, in 664 adults

Sep 22, 2026

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Dietary cholesterol sent the liver's LDL receptors to be destroyed, in cells and mice

Sep 21, 2026

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Febuxostat matched allopurinol on heart events but went with more deaths in 7,555 matched pairs

Sep 21, 2026

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Glucose monitor patterns tracked with heart risk in 1,356 people who did not have diabetes

Sep 18, 2026

An empty operating theatre with surgical lights and equipment

Ultrasound-guided stenting cut cardiac deaths in East Asian trials and not in anyone else's

Sep 16, 2026

An ultrasound console screen beside two probes in their holders

How well the heart's upper chamber squeezed predicted deaths in amyloidosis; its size did not

Sep 16, 2026

Three hand-rolled joints on a scratched wooden table beside an ashtray

Regular cannabis users had 9% fewer extra heartbeats on days they were randomly assigned to inhale

Sep 14, 2026

A woman in her fifties holding a glass of water beside a window, a large green leaf in the foreground

Hormone therapy for hot flashes tied to lower heart risk when started within 10 years of menopause

Sep 14, 2026

A person pressing a fist against the center of their chest

One in three patients with chest pain and clear arteries had a hidden circulation problem

Sep 8, 2026

A pulse oximeter clipped onto a fingertip showing a reading

Pacemakers outperformed catheter ablation for irregular heart rhythm in patients over 75

Sep 8, 2026

A paper electrocardiogram printout showing heart rhythm traces

A newer heart rhythm ablation method carried a higher 30-day stroke risk than the older one

Sep 8, 2026

Electrocardiogram electrodes and a recorder resting on a printed heart trace

After a heart valve replacement, a blood thinner beat aspirin by nearly half

Sep 7, 2026

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A statin alternative cut serious leg artery events by 36% in people who cannot take statins

Sep 6, 2026

A ring-shaped treatment scanner with an empty patient table

Left-side breast radiotherapy raised heart risk only in women who already had three risk factors

Sep 6, 2026

A gloved clinician taking blood from a person's inner wrist

A cholesterol drug cut deaths from any cause by 20% in people who had never had a heart attack

Sep 6, 2026

A city skyline and hilltop observatory almost lost in thick gray haze

Heat and wildfire smoke together tracked more heart deaths than either alone

Sep 4, 2026

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Mediterranean living tracked half the heart deaths in adults with type 2 diabetes

Sep 2, 2026

Gloved hands giving an injection into a person's upper arm

Flu vaccination tracked 20% less new atrial fibrillation across 276,888 matched adults

Sep 1, 2026

Electrode leads and clips laid across a printed heart rhythm trace

Pushing potassium to the top of the normal range cut atrial fibrillation events by a third in a trial

Aug 31, 2026

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Digital nudges lifted statin refills from 12% to 14%, and a second nudge worked as well as the first

Aug 31, 2026

A clinician listening to an older man's chest with a stethoscope

A raised heart-strain marker that came back down carried no extra risk eight years later

Aug 30, 2026

A clinician pointing at brain scans displayed on a lightbox

Stroke patients who hit the cholesterol target but had not halved it still had 12% more repeat events

Aug 30, 2026

Gloved hands pressing a dressing onto a bare upper arm after an injection

People given the newer shingles vaccine had 9% less heart disease over the next seven years

Aug 30, 2026

A gloved hand holding a dental instrument, with a reclining patient blurred behind

Treating gum disease lowered blood pressure by 4.64 mmHg across 12 randomized trials

Aug 28, 2026

A low shot from behind of a walker's legs and white trainers mid-stride on a tree-lined tarmac park path

Brisk walking lowered blood pressure, but the benefit peaked near 460 MET-minutes a week

Aug 25, 2026

A person curled on their side on a sofa with both hands pressed to their abdomen

Endometriosis tracked more blood clots, from a low base

Aug 17, 2026

A person using a blue floss pick between their front teeth in a bathroom

Flossing tracked 23% fewer strokes in 98,866 Korean adults followed for nine years

Aug 17, 2026

A pair of feet in dark socks standing on a digital bathroom scale on a wooden floor

Weight lost early in prediabetes still counted 34 years on

Aug 14, 2026

A glowing blue heart rate trace running across a grid

Heart deaths halved since 1990. The causes swapped places.

Aug 3, 2026

A person sitting alone on a chair beside a curtained window in a dim room

Loneliness tracked heart and metabolic disease across 33 countries

Aug 1, 2026

A gloved clinician giving an injection into an upper arm

COVID vaccine tied to fewer heart events in over-75s

Jul 28, 2026

An empty residential street lined with terraced houses under a grey sky

Black women developed high blood pressure 9.6 years earlier

Jul 27, 2026

A close-up of a blood glucose meter beside a fingertip blood sample

Losing 15% early after a diabetes diagnosis cut complications

Jul 26, 2026

A healthcare worker measuring her blood pressure with an arm cuff

Obesity's metabolic risk gap has narrowed in older adults

Jul 26, 2026

A young girl smiling at a table behind a glass of juice, with whole oranges in the foreground

Childhood fruit juice tracks with high blood pressure at 36

Jul 25, 2026

An older woman standing alone at a window, holding the sheer curtain and gazing out

Loneliness was tied to a higher risk of heart valve disease

Jul 23, 2026

Plastic waste and debris strewn along a polluted riverbank

Heart attack patients carried more microplastics in blood

Jul 23, 2026

Blood sample vials in a laboratory rack

Why apoB may be a better cholesterol test than LDL

Jul 22, 2026

A close-up of ridged potato chips inside an open snack bag

Ultra-processed food tied to 19% higher heart-death risk

Jul 21, 2026