Reducing heart attacks

The vitamin folate was added to flour in 1996 in an effort to prevent birth defects. It now appears that folate has a significant effect against cardiovascular disease, preventing an estimated 48,000 deaths a year from strokes and heart attacks. The evidence comes from the first large population study done by the government since the program began.

The vitamin lowers homocysteine. High levels of this amino acid have long been linked to heart attacks and strokes.

Bypass surpasses angioplasty

Angioplasty, passing a balloon into an artery to clear it, is done more than a million times a year in the U.S., compared with about 300,000 bypass surgeries. Angioplasty requires only a slit in the groin and one night in the hospital as opposed to opening the chest for a bypass, followed by five to seven days in the hospital and six weeks of recovery.

In some cases, however, angioplasty may not be the best choice. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic followed 6,033 heart patients for five years after surgery or angioplasty. They found the risk of death was more than twice as high in the angioplasty group, particularly for high-risk cases.

Treating chronic sinusitis

Chronic sinus infections can require several courses of antibiotics per year and still make it hard for people to work and enjoy life.

Sinusitis develops when the sinuses are blocked. Causes include bones in the nose which have shifted, nasal polyps, and certain types of asthma.

Doctors at Harvard Medical School say people prone to sinusitis can benefit from irrigating their sinuses with salt water each day. Irrigation products are available at drug stores. You squirt the water into your nose, let it drip out, then blow your nose.

Outpatient surgery is recommended for blockage from polyps and shifted nasal bones.