American College of Cardiology / American Heart Association Guidance for Preventing Heart Disease, Stroke
April 23, 2019
American Heart Association
New Orleans, LA – The choices we make every day can have a lasting effect on our heart and vascular health. Adopting a heart healthy eating plan, getting more exercise, avoiding tobacco and managing known risk factors are among the key recommendations in the 2019 Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease guideline from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA). Also, it is recommended that aspirin should only rarely be used to help prevent heart attacks and stroke in people without known cardiovascular disease.
4 chambers of the heart: right atrium, right ventricle, left atrium, left ventricle. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association New Report Outlines Ten Measures for the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death according
December 21, 2016
American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Clinical Performance and Quality Measures
Washington, D.C. – A new report presents 10 quality and performance measures that are intended to help stakeholders—including health systems, legislative bodies, and nongovernmental organizations, as well as healthcare practitioners, patients, families and communities—in the effort to prevent sudden cardiac death.
The joint report from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association is published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Sudden cardiac death is an unexpected death due to the sudden cessation of cardiac activity, which is also known as sudden cardiac arrest. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association says New Peripheral Artery Disease Guidelines emphasize Medical Therapy and Structured Exercise
November 15, 2016
American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Clinical Practice Guideline
Dallas, TX – New guidelines for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD), include recommendations on the use of antiplatelet therapy to reduce the risk of blood clots and statin drugs to lower cholesterol and advise PAD patients to participate in a structured exercise program.
The joint American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines are published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Eliminating exposure to all tobacco – including second-hand smoke – is highly recommended for patients with PAD. (American Heart Association)
New Risk Assessment Tool May Better Predict Dynamic Risk of Heart Disease
November 5, 2016
The new tool is an extension of the ACC/AHA ASCVD Risk Estimator
Washington, D.C. – A new assessment tool—the Million Hearts® Model Longitudinal ASCVD Risk Assessment tool—funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in partnership with the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association— is designed to help predict the 10-year risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASVCD) and how that risk may change over time as preventive treatments are initiated.
The tool is an extension of the ASCVD Pooled Cohort Equation first published in the 2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk.
Heart Illustration. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology to Offer Hospital Cardiovascular Accreditation Services
October 31, 2016
Collaboration will support improvements in cardiovascular care and patient outcomes
Dallas, TX – U.S. hospitals and other institutions will have access to a single, comprehensive set of cardiovascular accreditation services through a new collaboration between the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA).
Starting in 2017, hospitals will be able to take advantage of a suite of co-branded accreditation services focused on all aspects of cardiac care, including chest pain, cardiac catheterization, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions.
Heart Illustration. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association reports Performance, Quality Measures Updated for Patients with Atrial Fibrillation
June 29, 2016
Washington, D.C. – The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association today released updated clinical performance and quality measures for treating adult patients with atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter. This document updates the previous measure set that was released in 2008 and for which implementation notes were issued in 2011.
“Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in the United States,” said Paul A. Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., FACC, professor and vice-chair for clinical, quality and analytics in the department of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the chair of the writing committee. “This condition impacts between 2.7 million and 6.1 million American adults, and this number is expected to double by 2050. Updating the measure set was a priority for the ACC and AHA.”
Heart Illustration. (American Heart Association)
American Heart Association reminds Middle Tennessee to get your Flu Shot Now
December 12, 2013
It’s even more important to get your flu shot if you have a Heart Condition
Nashville, TN – You know that miserable, no-good feeling that starts as a simple headache and escalates to a high fever, chills and an overall sense of yuck?
Each year in the United States an estimated 5-20 percent of the population can be infected with the flu, and more than 200,000 people may be hospitalized during the flu season. [Read more]
