Researchers discover how severe flu damages the heart

February 11, 2026 8:15 PM

Researchers discover how severe flu damages the heart

Researchers believe they now understand how severe cases of influenza damage the heart, providing an explanation for the annual uptick in heart attacks during flu season. “We have known for years that the frequency of heart attacks increases during flu season, yet outside of clinical intuition, scant evidence exists of the underlying mechanisms of that phenomenon,” study leader Filip Swirski of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said in a statement. Studying tissue samples from ho...

Clopidogrel better than aspirin for preventing heart attacks and strokes

September 3, 2025 4:47 PM

Clopidogrel better than aspirin for preventing heart attacks and strokes

The commonly prescribed blood thinner clopidogrel should replace aspirin as a routine pill for preventing heart attacks and strokes in people who already have at least some degree of heart disease, researchers reported at the European Society of Cardiology Congress. Pooled data on nearly 29,000 patients with coronary artery disease who had participated in seven earlier randomized trials showed that those taking clopidogrel had a 14% lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular or cerebrovascular ...

Heart attacks and heart failure surge in winter, warns Dr. Tarun Sahni

January 3, 2025 11:39 AM

Heart attacks and heart failure surge in winter, warns Dr. Tarun Sahni

With the onset of winter, cases of heart attacks and heart failure are on the rise, warns Dr. Tarun Sahni, a general physician and internal medicine specialist at Apollo Hospital in Delhi. Dr. Sahni explained that cold temperatures cause blood vessels in the extremities to contract, leading to increased blood pressure. This heightened pressure strains the heart and can also affect vulnerable areas of the brain, increasing the risk of strokes. "In winter, the blood vessels in the periphery cont...