February is American Heart Month, which is wonderful for me as a cardiologist who specializes in prevention of cardiovascular disease. This month provides the opportunity to help raise awareness about heart disease and how people can prevent it. Below, I share some of the questions and topics that come up frequently when I talk with my patients about living heart-healthy lives. (more…)
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has received a $3.8 million grant from the American Heart Association (AHA) to promote cardiovascular health through early education and intervention programs targeting high-risk children and their parents in Harlem and the Bronx.
Mount Sinai researchers will study the genes and lifestyles of 600 preschoolers and their parents or guardians who live in these communities, which are associated with high rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. The investigators will track whether the interventions lead to healthier eating habits and additional exercise. They will also examine the participants’ DNA and RNA to understand how genetics plays a role in the development of cardiovascular disease.
“Do you really need to treat all of these patients?”
A Modern Healthcare article reported that: “ More than half of adults between ages 40 and 75 who need help managing cholesterol would be eligible for statin therapy for the prevention of heart disease on the basis of the newest American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines…The new guidelines have the potential to increase the net number of new statin prescriptions by 12.8 million.”
“With more than 115 million U.S. adults estimated to be between the ages of 40 and 75, the analysis suggests the total number of potential statin users could expand to 56 million, and the majority would be above age 60.”