The American Heart Association last week published an update to their guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Their paper addressed women specifically.
Here is the table of recommendations included in their paper:
You can click the pictures above for a larger version, or you can download their entire paper at:
Evidence-Based Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women: 2007 Update
For people with diabetes, heart disease looms as the most fatal complication. The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) describes some links between the two:
- CVD is the leading cause of early death among people with diabetes - about 65% of them die from heart disease and stroke.
- Adults with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to have heart disease or suffer a stroke than
people without diabetes. - High blood glucose in adults with diabetes increases the risk for heart attack, stroke, angina, and
coronary artery disease. - People with type 2 diabetes also have high rates of high blood pressure, lipid problems, and obesity,
which contribute to their high rates of CVD. - Smoking doubles the risk of CVD in people with diabetes.
- NDEP, The Link Between Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease
In addition to their recommendations for all women (e.g. don't smoke, be physically active, eat a healthful diet), the AHA 2007 Guidelines gave some special advice for women with diabetes.
- * Achieve an HbA1c of <7% through medication (and lifestyle)
- * Blood pressure of >130/80 mm Hg should be treated with medication (and lifestyle)
- * LDL cholesterol of >100 mg/dl should be treated with medication (and lifestyle)
- * Aspirin (75 to 325 mg/day) should be used in high risk (i.e. diabetic) women unless it cannot be tolerated.
- * ACE inhibitors or ARB's (for blood pressure management) should be used.
If you fall into any of the above categories and are not receiving treatment, you may want to discuss your therapies with your doctor. You could even bring the above AHA Tables, or their entire paper, with you.
