2022 Cholesterol Guidelines For Heart Health Announced

2018 Cholesterol Guidelines for Heart Health Announced Updated clinician guidelines on managing cholesterol are out now

New recommendations were released during the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Nov. 10, in Chicago. They advocate more aggressive statin treatment in certain instances. However, they also encourage a personalized approach to heart health and improved collaboration between doctors and patients. New research has been added to the guidelines since they were last published in 2013.

Roger Blumenthal M.D. is the Kenneth Jay Pollin Professor of Cardiology and the director of the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. The new guidelines place a higher emphasis on lifestyle changes, improving risk assessments and providing strong treatment benefits to those who are at highest risk of suffering a potentially fatal or life-threatening event.

According to the latest research, experts believe that it is better for heart disease prevention and dying to lower cholesterol levels. LDL-cholesterol levels above 160 are considered extremely high . Cholesterol levels can be determined by simple blood tests and lab analysis.

High cholesterol is one of several controllable risk factors that can increase a person's chance of heart disease. These factors include obesity, blood pressure, exercise insufficiently, and smoking. Clinicians use risk factor calculations that determine heart disease and stroke risk by factoring in other items such as age race and the other risk factors associated with high cholesterol, giving an estimated risk of having a major cardiovascular (heart or vascular) event in the next 10 years. The highest risk category is one with a greater than 20% chance of experiencing a stroke or heart attack within the next ten years. Intermediate risk refers to a chance that you have a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. It is between 7.9 and 9.9 percent.

LDL-cholesterol can be increased by poor nutrition, exercise , and obesity. But genetics is also important. If a parent or sibling has high cholesterol or heart disease, the patient should be more concerned about these conditions. The risk of developing high cholesterol increases as one gets older.

They have condensed these recommendations into 10 main messages for clinicians.

Start young and encourage your patients to live a healthy lifestyle. Help patients stop smoking and prevent weight gain. The primary treatment for those with metabolic syndrome is lifestyle change. This is a group of risk factors (high blood sugar and blood pressure as well as abnormal cholesterol levels or triglyceride) that is linked with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Patients who are healthy for longer periods of time can maintain a low cholesterol level and reduce the risk of developing diabetes or high blood pressure. Lower LDL cholesterol is better. To reduce the chance of further life-threatening episodes, doctors should recommend the highest tolerated statin therapy for patients with a history of heart disease. Seth Martin, M.D., has released new guidelines that support the Martin/Hopkins method. M.H.S. is used to calculate cholesterol when blood fats ( triglycerides ) or LDL cholesterol are low. Patients with heart disease history should be referred to a physician who will administer the maximal tolerated amount of cholesterol- lower ing medication ezetimibe. If the levels of cholesterol are greater than 70, the clinician should consider adding it. You should reevaluate your situation after 4-12 weeks. If bad cholesterol is above 70, you may need to use PCSK9 inhibitors. This research was partly based on Seth Martin's and Steve Jones's, M.D. If someone with familial high cholesterol has been diagnosed, it is important to treat them immediately. If their LDL cholesterol is still high (more than 100), statin therapy can reduce it by 50%. Every doctor visit should be a time to discuss lifestyle changes. According to the new guidelines, clinicians should start statin therapy for adults suffering from type 2 diabetes if they have LDL cholesterol levels greater than 70. Johns Hopkins doctors feel that type 2 diabetics should be able to work on their lifestyles for 6 months before starting lifelong statin treatments. The results of joint studies have demonstrated that type 2 diabetes sufferers will only be 35 percent at risk for developing heart disease in the future if their coronary arteries are clear. An ultrasound of the calcium buildup in the coronary arteries could be used to determine whether statins may be necessary. This is based on Michael Blaha M.D. (See number 9 on the list). While the patient makes the ultimate decision, the clinicians must work closely with patients to discuss risk, lifestyle and medication. Statin is not required for all risk factors. A coronary artery scan can be useful to determine if the patient has any risk factors. People with autoimmune conditions such as HIV, Lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis are more at risk for heart disease. Clinicians need to be aware of this and encourage lifestyle changes. Patients with high cholesterol should talk to their doctor about statin therapy. Seamus Whelton M.D. and M.P.H. based on research. Seamus Whelton, M.D., M.P.H. recommends that patients aged midlife and older have a discussion with their physician about starting statins. The goal is to reduce cholesterol by at least 30% for low-risk patients or 50 percent for high-risk ones. When deciding whether to prescribe statins, clinicians should consider that some risk factors are more severe than others. These include persistently high LDL cholesterol over 160, kidney disease, family history of heart disease, South Asian descent, and other factors. There are particular risk factors for women, including preeclampsia, premenopause, and higher levels of triglyceride. Pamela Ouyang (M.D.) and Erin Michos(M.H.S.), have written about this. The new guidelines include the use of the calcium scan to assess the risk for heart disease. This is useful when doctors are unable to determine whether the patient should take a statin, or if they can focus on lifestyle changes. The score of 0 in a calcium scan from the coronary vessels can indicate that there is a very low risk of heart disease over the next 10 years and therefore a statin would not be beneficial. If the score is higher than 100, it means that the patient has a high risk of developing heart disease and needs to be prescribed a statin. Costs for a calcium scan of the coronary artery range from $75 to $100. Study by Michael Blaha. Statin therapy is more effective if there are any calcium deposits in the coronary arteries. Clinicians should monitor the progress of patients who are being prescribed statins. They need to check their cholesterol after about a month to see if they're still on the drug. The statin should lower cholesterol levels by at least 30 percent after about a month. Continue measuring cholesterol annually. These guidelines will help reduce heart attacks and strokes, and also decrease the need for angioplasties. "Chiadi Ndumele is the Robert E. Meyerhoff Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A condition that narrows or blocks blood vessels between the heart and the legs called peripheral arterial disease. The condition can cause pain in walking and affects approximately 8.5 million Americans.

The American Heart Association estimates that one-third of Americans are affected by cardiovascular disease. That includes an estimated 836,000 Americans each year. More than 700,000 Americans suffer from heart attacks every year. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America for women. It includes irregular heartbeats, stroke, and heart attacks.