Press
Release
Intensfying
Prevention of Cardiovascular
Diseases
September
6, 2002
American
Heart Association updates
heart attack, stroke prevention
guidelines
DALLAS, July 16 -- To
avert a first heart attack
or stroke, physicians
should routinely assess
patients' general risk
of cardiovascular disease
beginning at age 20, according
to new American Heart
Association recommendations
published in today's Circulation:
Journal of the American
Heart Association.
The
"AHA Guidelines for
Primary Prevention of
Cardiovascular Disease
and Stroke: 2002 Update"
also recommends that physicians
calculate the risk of
developing cardiovascular
disease in the next 10
years for people age 40
and older or for anyone
who has multiple risk
factors.
"The
imperative to prevent
the first episode of coronary
disease or stroke remains
strong because many first-ever
heart attacks or strokes
are fatal or disabling,"
says Thomas Pearson, M.D.,
Ph.D., who chaired the
consensus panel that worked
on the update.
The
updated guidelines incorporate
new findings and expert
opinion that have emerged
since the American Heart
Association published
the recommendations in
1997. They reflect recent
data on the degree of
risk imposed by specific
risk factors and the new
efforts to categorize
people more specifically
according to their number
and types of risk factors.
"Risk
factor screening"
includes having blood
pressure, body mass index,
waist circumference and
pulse recorded at least
every two years and cholesterol
profile and glucose testing
at least every five years
beginning at age 20.
"Global
risk estimation"
combines information from
all existing risk factors
to determine a person's
percentage risk for developing
cardiovascular disease
in the next 10 years.
Multiple areas of slight
risk can be more important
than one area of very
high risk. This estimation
is recommended every five
years for people age 40
or older or for anyone
with two or more risk
factors.
"The
challenge for healthcare
professionals is to begin
comprehensive risk reduction
for more patients at an
earlier stage of their
disease," says Pearson.
The
update integrates recommendations
from other clinical guidelines
and consensus statements
developed over the past
five years -- for example,
the American Diabetes
Association recommendation
for managing high blood
pressure and high cholesterol
levels in diabetic patients
and the U.S. Preventive
Services Task Force recommendations
for routine health care
examinations. Consolidating
these various guidelines
means that health care
providers and patients
can use a single source
of information to evaluate
individual risk for heart
disease and stroke and
to obtain the latest information
about disease prevention.
Notable
updates to the guidelines
include:
 |
low-dose
aspirin for people
who have an increased
risk for coronary
heart disease |
|
blood-thinning
drugs to reduce
stroke risk in people
who have atrial
fibrillation --
an abnormal heart
rhythm that can
propel blood clots
from the heart toward
the brain and increase
the risk of stroke. |
Similarly,
Pearson says studies have
clearly shown that using
blood-thinners to prevent
clot formation, or treatment
to eliminate abnormal
heartbeats, substantially
reduces the risk of stroke
associated with atrial
fibrillation.
The panel challenges healthcare
providers to make prevention
a high priority for all
patients.
Other
recommendations to prevent
heart attack and stroke:
|
