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Artery sounds could spot heart risks
New research suggests that doctors may be able to diagnose heart problems by listening to a patient's heart with a stethoscope. U.S. scientists say that a certain noise--called a carotid bruit--is made by the heart when fatty deposits on the wall of the arteries accumulate, and this sound can be heard with a stethoscope. Researchers analyzed 22 studies that included 17,295 heart patients and found that the presence of a carotid bruit was linked to double the risk of suffering a heart attack compared to those without a bruit. The doctors also found that such people were 2.5 times more likely to die because of a heart attack.
(News-Medical.Net) UPDATED 05/11/2008Click here to read the full story
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