The Heart Beat

Research scientists from around the world gathered in Anaheim, Calif., last week for the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. Some highlights:

STATINS WORK Already 25 million people worldwide take so-called statin drugs to lower their cholesterol. The largest statin study ever conducted shows that one of them--a drug called Zocor--lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke one-third in high-risk patients (for example, people with diabetes). The big surprise: the drugs worked even when cholesterol levels were normal. The same study looked at whether the antioxidant vitamins C, E and beta-carotene have a similarly beneficial effect. The answer is no.

FLY FIRST CLASS Travel checklist: passport, tickets--and support stockings? Researchers report that "compression stockings," elastic socks or hose that fit tightest around the ankles, can dramatically decrease the risk of developing dangerous blood clots on long air flights (the so-called coach-class syndrome). For patients who are already at high risk of clots--because they've had them before or have other circulatory problems like large varicose veins--something completely different seemed to do the trick: a shot of the blood thinner heparin one or two hours before flying cut the risk of clotting to nearly zero.

SOME NERVE Acupuncture may scare away migraines and relieve back pain, but can it fight heart disease? Maybe. A preliminary study of congestive-heart-failure patients suggests that the ancient Chinese medicine may calm the sympathetic nervous system, the network of nerves that regulates activities we're barely aware of, like pumping blood. A less reactive sympathetic system results in smoother blood flow to the heart and easier pumping.

--By Janice M. Horowitz