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Women who develop high blood pressure or diabetes in the course of pregnancy are more likely to give birth to children who develop conditions that may compromise their own heart health at a young age, scientists reported on Monday. By the time they are 12 years old, these children are more likely to be overweight or to be diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar, compared with children whose mothers had complication-free pregnancies. (Rabin, 2/12)

The risk of heart attack and ischemic stroke in patients aged 50 and older more than doubled in the 2 weeks after even mild influenza in those with few risk factors and more than quadrupled in high-risk patients with severe cases, with elevated risk persisting for 2 months, according to a self-controlled case series in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. (Van Beusekom, 2/12)

Interventional cardiologist Dr. Joseph Puma is founder and president of Sorin Medical. He has helped pioneer coronary heart CT scanning technology that continues to improve with AI-assisted software. "Our practice has actually been able to reduce by almost 50% the need for invasive heart catheterization or angiogram, reducing almost 50% the need to bring patients into the hospital to try and figure out if they have heart disease," Puma said. A three-minute scan can show plaque and blockages before an invasive procedure. (Carlin, 2/12)

A growing body of data show that South Asians are at greater risk of developing heart disease than white people, and they tend to get complications at younger ages, but it’s not been fully clear what explains this disparity. A new study suggests one potential reason is that South Asians have a decreased ability to repair blood vessels that get injured from cardiovascular problems. (Chen, 2/12)

People who lower the amount of salt in their diets by using a salt substitute may significantly decrease the risk of developing high blood pressure, a study published Monday suggests. The report, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, analyzed data from hundreds of men and women, ages 55 and older, who were in elder care facilities in China. ... The researchers found that cutting salt back by more than a third by swapping in another mineral supplement — salty-tasting potassium chloride — along with other flavorings, such as mushroom, seaweed and lemon, was protective against high blood pressure over a two-year period. (Carroll, 2/12)

Multiple large retailers, including Costco and Trader Joe’s, have recalled items containing dairy products from Rizo-López Foods Inc. due to possible Listeria contamination. Rizo-López Foods Inc. initially recalled dozens of dairy products last week after an investigation identified them as the source of a multistate Listeria outbreak that led to two deaths and 23 hospitalizations. (Cheng, 2/12)

Have you ever checked the ingredients in a bottle of nail polish? How about hair dye or chemical straighteners? Many of these products do what they do thanks to strong chemicals that can be bad for our health. (Wurzer and Elder, 2/12)