Evidence Based Guidelines Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women:2007 Update

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AHA updates guidelines for preventing heart disease in women.

Highlights of the changes include (from Science Daily):

Recommended lifestyle changes to help manage blood pressure include

weight control, increased physical activity, alcohol moderation,

sodium restriction, and an emphasis on eating fresh fruits, vegetables

and low-fat dairy products.

Besides advising women to quit smoking, the 2007 guidelines recommend

counseling, nicotine replacement or other forms of smoking cessation

therapy.

Physical activity recommendations for women who need to lose weight or

sustain weight loss have been added -- minimum of 60-90 minutes of

moderate-intensity activity (e.g., brisk walking) on most, and

preferably all, days of the week.

The guidelines now encourage all women to reduce saturated fats intake

to less than 7 percent of calories if possible.

Specific guidance on omega-3 fatty acid intake and supplementation

recommends eating oily fish at least twice a week, and consider taking

a capsule supplement of 850-1000 mg of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) in women with heart disease, two to four

grams for women with high triglycerides.

Hormone replacement therapy and selective estrogen receptor modulators

(SERMs) are not recommended to prevent heart disease in women.

Antioxidant supplements (such as vitamin E, C and beta-carotene)

should not be used for primary or secondary prevention of CVD.

Folic acid should not be used to prevent CVD -- a change from the 2004

guidelines that did recommend it be considered for use in certain

high-risk women.

Routine low dose aspirin therapy may be considered in women age 65 or

older regardless of CVD risk status, if benefits are likely to

outweigh other risks. (Previous guidelines did not recommend aspirin

in lower risk or healthy women.) The upper dosage of aspirin for

high-risk women increases to 325 mg per day rather than 162 mg. This

brings the women's guidelines up to date with other recently published

guidelines.

Consider reducing LDL cholesterol to less than 70 mg/dL in very

high-risk women with heart disease (which may require a combination of

cholesterol-lowering drugs).

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by

American Heart Association.

Full text pdf is right here:

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.181546v1