Johns Hopkins Heart Health Alerts Presents Updated Guidelines

In a recent Johns Hopkins Heart Health Alert, Roger S. Blumenthal, M.D., Director of the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease at Johns Hopkins, outlines the new features of the AHA’s 2007 recommendations for women.

In 1999, the American Heart Association first began to notice that heart attack was not just a men’s health issue, but one increasing for women, to such an extent that heart disease was the #1 killer of BOTH men AND women.

Now the AHA has revised their guidelines still further to try to protect more women from fatal heart attack, and encourage them to become more pro-active about their health.

Although a woman’s 10-year risk of developing heart disease may be low, Dr. Blumenthal says, “By the time a woman turns 50, her risk of heart attack or stroke over the next 35 years is between 5-10% — IF she has no other risk factors.

“Unfortunately, only a small percentage of women have optimal risk factors by age 50, suggesting an even higher lifetime risk of heart disease. So, women need to make changes sooner rather than later to reduce their lifetime risk.”

As part of the revised guidelines’ broader approach to prevention, more stringent dietary, exercise, and cholesterol goals have been added. You can read the full article here:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/03/prweb743474.htm