Questioning older patients about their weight earlier in life could be a low-tech, low-cost way to better predict a person’s future risk of heart disease, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

A report issued Dec. 14 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association and Truth Initiative, among other public health groups, ranked Alaska No. 1 in the nation for funding programs that protect high-school aged kids against tobacco use and help current smokers quit.

After years of decline, amputations are increasing among diabetic patients in the U.S., Reuters reported.

The holiday season is a time of merriment for families around the world, but amid the excitement comes a sobering result from a Swedish study: The incidence of heart attacks spikes around the holidays, particularly on Christmas Eve.

A trial designed to test the effectiveness of additional antibiotic prophylaxis before and after cardiac electronic device implantation found that such an approach did not significantly lower the rate of subsequent infections, although there was a trend in that direction.

A simple test to measure walking speed can indicate frailty and inform survival predictions for older patients undergoing cardiac surgery, suggests a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The psychosocial status of adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD) has improved over the past couple of decades, researchers report of a cross-sectional study that analyzed CHD patients’ quality of life between 1995 and 2015.

Amazon has teamed up with product developer Omron Healthcare to integrate its Alexa voice assistant with Omron’s family of blood pressure monitors, CNBC reported. The move is expected to help heart patients better manage their BP.