By Steven Reinberg EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, March 6 (HealthDay News) -- German health officials reported Thursday almost 100 cases of allergic reactions to heparin, a blood-thinning drug that has been blamed for hundreds of allergic reactions and at least four deaths in the United States. But the German version of the drug is a different brand than the heparin supplied by Illinois-based Baxter Healthcare Corp. that has been linked to the allergic reactions in the United States, primarily among dialysis patients.

For the past week, I've had the sensation of palpitations. I say it that way because I'm not sure what I've been feeling. It hits suddenly, sometimes for just a few minutes, sometimes repeatedly over the course of a day. My chest feels hollow and like my heart is pounding, it's hard to breathe and I feel lightheaded.

By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Fasting blood sugar levels are typically used to diagnose diabetes, however, a common complication of the disease that can lead to blindness begins at blood sugar levels below what is considered diabetic, Australian researchers report.
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Retinopathy is a vascular condition where the small blood vessels in the eye become damaged; other complications of diabetes include heart, kidney and circulatory problems.

We are almost at the end of Heart Disease Awareness Month in February, and I ran across an interesting article I wanted to share. According to the Mayo Clinic, if you have an "apple" shaped body, compared to a "pear" shaped body, you may have an increased risk of heart disease. We know that obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, and the "apple" shaped body is one that contains most of the extra weight around the middle or waist. This is compared to a "pear" shape, where most of the extra weight is around the hip area.

The ad campaign for the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor that features artificial heart pioneer Dr. Robert Jarvik has been halted by drug maker Pfizer. A U.S. Congressional committee examining consumer drug advertising has been looking into whether the ads misrepresented Jarvik and his credentials.

TUESDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A national effort is needed to deal with the effects of high blood sugar in heart patients, says an American Heart Association scientific statement released Monday.

The statement highlights a number of unanswered questions about the condition, also known as hyperglycemia, in people hospitalized with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), which includes heart attack and a variety of other cardiovascular conditions.

By Ed Edelson
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A quarter of the people who survive heart attacks don't take the drugs prescribed for them after they leave the hospital, a new study finds.

By E.J. Mundell
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- To stent or not to stent? Which type of the artery-opening device is best? When is heart bypass surgery smarter than getting a stent?

These are the questions many heart patients are left asking themselves and their doctors, as dozens of recent high-profile -- and often conflicting -- studies have compared the performance and safety of various types of coronary stents.

But experts say a consensus on the safest and most effective use of the devices is slowly emerging.

By Ed Edelson
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Too many Americans are not aware of all the warning signs of a heart attack, and the percentage who know what to do when one is suspected is not as high as it could be, a survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds.

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Giving stroke patients a caffeine-alcohol mixture in concert with a clot-busting drug was safe and led to better recovery, new research shows.