TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH: Heart attacks may occur after treatment of infections

DEAR DR. ROACH: My mom had a throat and palate infection that was treated in 2017, and about two weeks later, she had a heart attack. In 2023, she had pneumonia, and was briefly hospitalized and treated, but again about two weeks later, she had another heart attack. We asked her cardiologist if there is a relationship between either the infections themselves or the treatment of infections and heart attacks, but he was not aware of any. This seems too unlikely to be a coincidence. What is your experience on this? — A.C.S.

ANSWER: A heart attack happens when the demand for blood from the heart is greater than the ability of the blood vessels can provide. In practice, this almost always means that there are blockages in the blood vessels.