With smartphones becoming more common, the issue of patients recording their doctor visits concerns some physicians.

Digital health tools may be the ticket for preventing cardiovascular disease or improving outcomes in at-risk patients. A meta-analysis gave digital health interventions an overall thumbs up for primary and secondary prevention.

By performing exome sequencing, researchers have identified two genes and mechanisms (PDE4DIP and ACOT4) associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke. They also found two other genes (ZFHX3 and ABCA1) had protein-coding variants associated with ischemic stroke.

The increasing popularity of narrow networks is limiting choices for patients.

Recent advances in treatments and management strategies have helped patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy live longer and experience few adverse events, according to a longitudinal cohort study.

Between 2003 and 2013, the death rate for heart disease decreased 19 percent among men age 55 to 64 and decreased 24 percent for women in the same age category, according to a report released on May 6 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, in 2013, 55 percent of deaths among that age group were due to cancer or heart disease.

Nearly 17 million people gained health insurance coverage between September 2013 and February 2015, according to a longitudinal survey. The increase coincides with the federal government mandate that most people are required to have insurance.

Physicians say medicine is part science and part art. These days many need to squeeze strategy into the formula.