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Understanding the DASH eating plan will help you start and follow this plan for life.

Your doctor will diagnose heart failure based on your medical and family histories, a physical exam, and results from one or more tests: electrocardiogram (EKG), chest x ray, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) blood test, echocardiography, Doppler ultrasound, Holter monitor, nuclear heart scan, cardiac catheterization, coronary angiography, stress testing, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and thyroid function tests.

Your doctor will diagnose heart valve disease based on your medical and family histories, a physical exam, and results from one or more tests: electrocardiogram (EKG), chest x ray, echocardiography, cardiac catheterization, stress testing, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The most common signs and symptoms of heart failure are shortness of breath, fatigue, and swelling in the ankles, feet, legs, abdomen, and veins in the neck.

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs because it can't fill with enough blood and/or can't pump blood to the rest of the body with enough force.

You can take action to prevent heart disease and heart failure by avoiding illegal drugs, being physically active, following a heart-healthy eating plan, quitting smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight.

Strategies to help you quit include getting ready to quit, using support, asking for medicine and using it correctly, learning new skills and behaviors, and preparing for withdrawal and relapse.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released physical activity guidelines that recommend the types and amounts of physical activity that children and youth age 6 or older, adults, people over the age of 65, women who are pregnant or just had a baby, and other groups can do.

Peripheral artery disease is more common in blacks than any other racial or ethnic group. The major risk factors for peripheral artery disease include smoking, older age, and diseases and conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, coronary heart disease, stroke, and metabolic syndrome.

Sudden cardiac arrest happens without warning and requires emergency treatment. Doctors rarely diagnose sudden cardiac arrest with medical tests as it's happening. Instead, sudden cardiac arrest often is diagnosed after it happens with tests such as an electrocardiogram (EKG), echocardiography, MUGA test, cardiac MRI, cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology study, and blood tests.