Herbs, heart medication might not mix
Heart failure — the inability of the heart to pump blood well enough to consistently supply your body with needed blood flow — is a long-term condition that can damage vital organs. It often develops slowly as a result of atherosclerosis, a heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, deposits of an abnormal protein (amyloid) in heart tissue or heart valve disease.
Its symptoms include shortness of breath; difficulty breathing when lying down; swollen feet/ ankles/legs or stomach; and fatigue. In its earliest stages, it’s treated with a combination of regular exercise, LDL cholesterol- and blood-pressure-lowering medications, and abstaining from alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs. As it progresses, it may be necessary to implant a pacemaker or cardiac defibrillator.
According to a new American Heart Association Scientific Statement, up to 30 percent of those diagnosed with heart failure also take dangerous or ineffective supplements and herbs. Blue cohosh, for example, can cause a rapid heartbeat and elevate blood pressure. Lily of the valley — if taken with a common heart failure medication, digoxin — can cause an irregular heartbeat, confusion and low potassium levels.
So, if you have heart failure, ask your cardiologist about the safety of supplements and herbs BEFORE you take them.
Risks after COVID
A new study in JAMA Network Open reveals that having any type of surgery up to 13 months after your COVID-19 infection puts you at a significant risk of post-op problems, compared with folks who haven’t had the virus.
Previously, researchers thought that the window for Covid-19-related post-op difficulties closed at around three to six months; now it is more than a year.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have found that if you have surgery in the first 30 days after having COVID-19, there is an 18 percent increased risk of deep venous thrombosis (a blood clot), pulmonary embolism (a clot in the lungs), cerebrovascular accident (a stroke in the brain), myocardial injury (heart attack or heart damage), acute kidney injury and death. By day 100 post-infection, the increased risks drop to 10 percent and then decrease to about 8 percent 400 days POST-COVID-19.
Clearly, if you have had COVID-19 and are scheduled for an operation afterward, you should discuss the increased post-op risks with your doctor.