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THURSDAY, March 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- While strokes strike many Americans, a new study shows the risk is particularly high among American Indians.Researchers already knew that American Indians had the highest risk of atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heartbeat ("arrhythmia") that can increase the risk of blood clots and stroke.The new study found that American Indians had a 47% higher risk of having a non-bleeding stroke compared to people from all other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. "Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia and one of the most common causes of stroke, and we now recognize likely an important determinant of other adverse consequences, such as dementia, heart attack and chronic kidney disease," said study author Dr. Gregory...

THURSDAY, March 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In some reassuring news for professional athletes, a new study finds very few develop inflammatory heart disease after being infected with COVID-19, and most can safely return to play.In fact, of nearly 800 professional athletes who had tested positive, less than 1% were barred from returning to play because of heart damage from COVID-19, researchers said."These findings reinforce the previous recommendation that asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19 don't require additional testing in the majority of cases," said lead researcher Dr. Matthew Martinez, director of Atlantic Health System Sports Cardiology at Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey."So, most folks are going to have asymptomatic or mild COVID-19, and they don't necessarily...

THURSDAY, March 4, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Because of the lack of oxygen at such lofty altitudes, Dr. Akil Taherbhai needed four hours to climb the last mile to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest freestanding mountain in the world.Savoring the sense of triumph as he finally reached the summit, the family physician who is known as Dr. Taher to his patients in Gadsden, Alabama, reflected on his journey. Not the 19,000-plus feet beneath him, but the pursuit of health and adventure he started only after undergoing heart bypass surgery."I could either lead a cautious, mediocre and sedentary life, or I could abandon the ordinary by taking my own journey to the extraordinary," he said.Despite a family history of heart disease and his professional understanding of the...

THURSDAY, March 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Even after suffering a stroke, many Hispanic Americans still have uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure or other conditions that raise their risk of a repeat one, a new study finds.The study involved 404 Hispanic adults with a history of stroke or "mini-stroke," which is a brief reduction in blood flow to the brain that can foreshadow a full-blown stroke. The researchers found that despite those scares, few patients had their stroke risk factors under control.Awareness did not seem to be the issue: Most patients with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes knew it.Still, many did not have those conditions under good control, the study found."This shows we have work to do," said senior researcher Dr. Fernando Testai, an...