If you have chronic heart failure, being around a smoker may be bad for your physical and mental well-being, a new study suggests. Researchers found that of 205 non-smokers with heart failure, those who regularly breathed in secondhand smoke reported more problems in their day-to-day functioning -- physical and emotional. The findings, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, do not prove that other people's smoke was to blame. But they … full story

Patients with HIV infection without a prior history of coronary heart disease may be at a higher risk of developing heart failure. “Heavy alcohol consumption, which is more prevalent among HIV-infected people, is also an established risk factor for heart failure,” the study authors write. Adeel A. Butt from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and colleagues analyzed data from HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected veterans enrolled in the … full story

Every woman with a head on her shoulders knows about the importance of calcium for strong bones to prevent osteoporosis, a serious disease affecting older women. I myself have been a long time consumer of low-fat dairy products for this very reason (plus I love cottage cheese with almost anything). But now we have an added reason to wolf down the calcium. New research has shown that women with higher intakes of calcium appear to have a lower risk … full story