Heart Disease

In a feat of surgical skill, Denton Cooley attached the temporary artificial heart device in only 47 minutes.

The Rivalry Between Two Doctors to Implant the First Artificial Heart

Featuring titans of Texas medicine, the race was on to develop the cutting-edge technology

Compared to traditional open-heart surgery, TAVR is a relatively simple procedure that finds cardiologists using a catheter to insert a replacement valve

This Minimally Invasive Technique Could Reduce the Need for Open-Heart Surgery

Clinical trials suggest TAVR is just as beneficial as, or perhaps even better than, open-heart surgery for low- and high-risk patients alike

African-Americans breathe in 56 percent more pollution than they generate, while Hispanic Americans breathe in 63 percent more

White Americans Produce More Air Pollution Than They Consume

African-Americans and Hispanics consume fewer pollutant-generating products, but get hit hardest by the negative effects

Haze in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Air Pollution Is Stealing a Year of Life From People Around the Globe

Tiny particles that contribute to lung disease, strokes and heart attacks are robbing Americans of 4 months and over 1.8 years of life elsewhere

Why We Should Test Heart Drugs On a 'Virtual Human' Instead of Animals

Thousands of animals are used for heart drug tests each year—but research shows that computer-simulated trials are more accurate

Chopin at 25, by his fiancée Maria Wodzińska.

Chopin’s Preserved Heart May Offer Clues About His Death

Scientists who recently examined the organ have suggested that Chopin died of complications from tuberculosis

A statue of Frank Pantridge outside the Lisburn Civic Centre in Northern Ireland. His defibrillator sits beside him.

The Irish Cardiologist Whose Invention Saved LBJ

Frank Pantridge miniaturized the defibrillator, making it portable

A cocktail of steroids and vitamin C, often found in citrus and leafy green produce, might hold the key to treating sepsis. Or, clinical trials might prove it overhyped.

Could Vitamin C Be the Cure for Deadly Infections?

A new protocol that includes this common nutrient could save millions of lives—and has already sparked a raging debate among doctors

Cyanobacteria, sometimes known as blue-green algae, are single-celled organisms that use photosynthesis to produce food just like plants do.

Need to Fix a Heart Attack? Try Photosynthesis

Injecting plant-like creatures into a rat's heart can jumpstart the recovery process, study finds

Drinking fountain on the Halifax County Courthouse (North Carolina) in April 1938.

Racism Harms Children's Health, Survey Finds

Racism may not be a disease, exactly. But a growing body of research finds that it has lasting physical and mental effects on its victims

Researchers Turn Spinach Leaves Into Beating Heart Tissues

These living leaves could eventually become patches for the human heart

A bonfire of elephant ivory burns in Kenya's Nairobi National Park in July 1989.

Wondering What a Bonfire Does to Your Lungs? We Answer Your Burning Questions

Setting large piles of stuff aflame can have significant environmental and human health impacts

An early cotton-candy machine.

People at the 1904 World's Fair Paid Half the Price of Admission for a Box of Cotton Candy

Celebrating cotton candy's sugary, innovative goodness

A Jarvik-7 artificial heart in the Smithsonian's collection.

Remembering Barney Clark, Whose Ethically Questionable Heart Transplant Advanced Science

Three decades ago, a dentist agreed to receive the first artificial heart. And then things went downhill

Take heart: researchers are probing how the hard-hearted get that way, and whether they can be turned back.

How the Heart Hardens, Biologically

With age and injury, the soft tissues of the heart can turn to bone. Can this deadly process be reversed?

Flatline on a heart monitor

The Lazarus Phenomenon, Explained: Why Sometimes, the Deceased Are Not Dead, Yet

What does CPR have to do with the curious case of clinically dead patients coming “back to life”?

Heart Valves at the National Museum of American History

A Man With a Lot of Heart Valves Donates His Unusual Collection

Minneapolis entrepreneur Manny Villafana says his collection at the American History Museum is filled with stories of both failure and success

Imagining the future of artificial hearts.

Help for the Brokenhearted: Wearable, Biosynthetic and 'Beatless' Artificial Hearts

Cow-machine hybrids and continuous-flow technologies are helping people survive devastating heart failure

Nurses who work rotating shifts are at greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and lung cancer than workers who stick with a nine-to-five schedule.

Five Years of Night Shift Work Elevate a Person's Risk of Death

Working inconsistent hours is bad for your health, according to researchers who studied 75,000 U.S. nurses

(Clockwise from top left) Katrin Macmillan, Ashutosh Saxena, Richard Lunt and Horace Luke are hard at work on exciting new projects.

Eight Innovators to Watch in 2015

From food science and robotics to solar tech and sustainable architecture, these folks are poised to do big things

Page 2 of 3