Scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine found that heart disease risk “profiles” in secondary prevention have failed to improve over the last two decades.
They examined more than 6,000 American adults with a history of heart disease.
The research is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and was conducted by Seth S. Martin et al.
Secondary prevention refers to prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events such as heart attack or stroke in individuals who already have heart disease.
The team found despite recent advancements in safe and effective therapies reflected in guideline recommendations, trends in heart disease risk profiles in adults with the condition were not ideal from 1999 through 2018.
An ideal risk profile is based on targets that health professionals agree to be considered desirable.
In the study, risk-factor profiles analyzed included blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, smoking, physical activity and diet.
All factors showed a worsening or unchanged trend, except for cholesterol, which showed a modest improvement. However, only 30% of adults with heart disease had an ideal cholesterol profile in 2015–2018.
The team says these numbers are disappointing and alarming. There remains a critical need and opportunity to effectively translate established guidelines into patient care.
Doctors have to get innovative about how to reach diverse groups of patients, and to improve secondary prevention in everyone with heart disease.
The researchers cautioned that their study had some built-in caveats, including the fact that the history of heart disease was self-reported, and therefore might have missed identifying some individuals with the condition.
They also emphasize that things like telemedicine and devices such as smartphone apps known as digital health interventions will help engage and motivate patients with a history of heart disease to live a more heart-healthy lifestyle.
If you care about heart disease, please read studies about a common cause of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and chronic itch linked to heart disease, sleep loss.
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