New Guidelines to Prevent Heart Attack and Stroke
May 22, 2012
Doctors will be encouraged to change their treatment procedures for people at risk of heart attack and stroke under new guidelines launched today by the National Vascular Disease Prevention Alliance (NVDPA).
The new Guidelines for the Management of Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk makes recommendations that the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease – including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and age – are considered together instead of individually when treatment options for patients at risk are decided.
Doctors will now consider treatment based on looking at a person’s risk factors for heart, stroke or vascular disease in a cluster.
The NVDPA is an alliance between Diabetes Australia, Kidney Health Australia, the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the National Stroke Foundation.
NVDPA chair and National Stroke Foundation chief executive Dr Erin Lalor said the guidelines had implications for anyone over 45 and provided new treatment regimes if they are at risk of cardiovascular disease.
“Doctors will be encouraged to move away from prescribing medication on the basis of individual risk factors such as raised blood pressure and instead be encouraged to focus on how all risk factors interact to contribute to a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke before deciding on treatment,” Dr Lalor said.
“This could mean that some people who are not receiving treatment may better manage their disease risk with medication and lifestyle change, while some people who are receiving treatment may, after a consultation with their doctor, be able to stop taking medications and continue to just focus on healthy lifestyle.”
The new guidelines build on the cardiovascular disease assessment guidelines released in 2009 which saw a new way of calculating disease risk for people in Australia.
Dr Lalor said moderate reductions in a number of risk factors may be more effective in reducing a person’s risk of disease than a major reduction in one factor.
“The new guidelines will recommend treatment based on how risk factors interact with each other, Dr Lalor said.
Dr Lalor said everyone over 45 is urged to ask their doctor for an assessment and review of treatment options.
“By learning their personal overall risk, Australians have a better chance of preventing heart disease and stroke.”
The new NVDPA Guidelines for the Management of Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk build on 2009 guidelines which introduced the concept of absolute risk assessment. Members of the Alliance are calling for the development of systems to support risk checks in people aged over 45.
Professor Stephen Colagiuri, chair of the NVDPA Expert Working Group said the guidelines hoped to direct treatment to the people who could most benefit from it.
“We are hoping that under these new guidelines, doctors will take into account the compounded effects on disease risk that multiple risk factors could create,” Professor Colagiuri said.
“We know people at risk of cardiovascular disease tend to develop clusters of risk rather than just one.
“Assessment of disease risk on the basis of multiple risk factors has been shown to be more accurate than using single factors because of the interaction between blood pressure, cholesterol, and being overweight,” he said.
A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2011 showed that in Australia over one in four adults had three or more modifiable risk factors and one in five people had four or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The guidelines also give guidance on recommendations on lifestyle change and drug treatment to lower the risk of developing heart, stroke or vascular disease.
Manage your heart stroke risk booklet
The new Guidelines for the Management of Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk makes recommendations that the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease – including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and age – are considered together instead of individually when treatment options for patients at risk are decided.
Doctors will now consider treatment based on looking at a person’s risk factors for heart, stroke or vascular disease in a cluster.
The NVDPA is an alliance between Diabetes Australia, Kidney Health Australia, the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the National Stroke Foundation.
NVDPA chair and National Stroke Foundation chief executive Dr Erin Lalor said the guidelines had implications for anyone over 45 and provided new treatment regimes if they are at risk of cardiovascular disease.
“Doctors will be encouraged to move away from prescribing medication on the basis of individual risk factors such as raised blood pressure and instead be encouraged to focus on how all risk factors interact to contribute to a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke before deciding on treatment,” Dr Lalor said.
“This could mean that some people who are not receiving treatment may better manage their disease risk with medication and lifestyle change, while some people who are receiving treatment may, after a consultation with their doctor, be able to stop taking medications and continue to just focus on healthy lifestyle.”
The new guidelines build on the cardiovascular disease assessment guidelines released in 2009 which saw a new way of calculating disease risk for people in Australia.
Dr Lalor said moderate reductions in a number of risk factors may be more effective in reducing a person’s risk of disease than a major reduction in one factor.
“The new guidelines will recommend treatment based on how risk factors interact with each other, Dr Lalor said.
Dr Lalor said everyone over 45 is urged to ask their doctor for an assessment and review of treatment options.
“By learning their personal overall risk, Australians have a better chance of preventing heart disease and stroke.”
The new NVDPA Guidelines for the Management of Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk build on 2009 guidelines which introduced the concept of absolute risk assessment. Members of the Alliance are calling for the development of systems to support risk checks in people aged over 45.
Professor Stephen Colagiuri, chair of the NVDPA Expert Working Group said the guidelines hoped to direct treatment to the people who could most benefit from it.
“We are hoping that under these new guidelines, doctors will take into account the compounded effects on disease risk that multiple risk factors could create,” Professor Colagiuri said.
“We know people at risk of cardiovascular disease tend to develop clusters of risk rather than just one.
“Assessment of disease risk on the basis of multiple risk factors has been shown to be more accurate than using single factors because of the interaction between blood pressure, cholesterol, and being overweight,” he said.
A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2011 showed that in Australia over one in four adults had three or more modifiable risk factors and one in five people had four or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The guidelines also give guidance on recommendations on lifestyle change and drug treatment to lower the risk of developing heart, stroke or vascular disease.
Manage your heart stroke risk booklet