Today we spoke with Verywell Family regarding a recent study that found increasing rates of pregnancy-related heart attacks in young women.

Cardiovascular disease is now the leading cause of pregnancy-related death, and pregnancy may increase the risk of heart attack by as much as 3- to 4-fold. While it is still a quite rare occurance, it is obviously devastating, and thus, very important to understand and prevent.

Palpitations are quite common during super stressful times (hello nail-biting election). But how do we know if our heart palpitations are just anxiety or due to something else? Are they dangerous? Let’s break it down.

“With the upcoming election, the pandemic, virtual school, and all the stress 2020 has brought, self-care is vitally important right now,” says cardiologist Nicole Harkin, MD, founder of virtual preventive cardiology practice Whole Heart Cardiology.

One of the most frequent questions I get, whether in the clinic or at a dinner party, is “What’s the best diet to prevent a heart attack?” Research has demonstrated that 80% of chronic disease is preventable. And at the cornerstone of this is diet - hands down. Suboptimal diet is estimated to be responsible for an astonishing 1 in 5 deaths worldwide. So what should we eat?

Your blood pressure is the force of blood through your arteries, and it’s considered hypertension, or high blood pressure, when it’s higher than it should be. It’s incredibly common, affecting almost half of all Americans. Shockingly, almost 1 in 5 otherwise healthy young adults may be affected. Learn more about what it is and how to lower it with food

Cholesterol is an artery clogging substance that is made by your liver. A certain amount of cholesterol is super important because your body uses it to make hormones, vitamin D, and digest certain foods. However, too much cholesterol is not good because, particularly in the setting of inflammation, it can build up in your arteries to form blockages (called plaque), which can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and other complications.

Here’s the deal. We need to first understand what causes heart disease - or what clogs arteries - in order to begin to think about how to prevent it. If you aren’t totally clear on this, don’t worry, you aren’t alone! I’ve spent more time in the office walking patients through the process of coronary artery disease (blockages of arteries in the heart), than practically anything else (followed closely by the best dietary pattern to prevent heart disease, understanding palpitations, and causes of high blood pressure). Yes, we’ll get to those too.