New Cholesterol Guidelines Released

-

New Cholesterol Guidelines Released

The American Heart Association released new clinical practice guidelines for managing cholesterol. The focus for lowering LDL cholesterol has moved away from focusing on achieving target numbers and instead has moved toward assessing risk and implementing cholesterol-lowering statin medications as appropriate.
            This new recommendation is based on recent research that found that lifestyle changes as combined with a statin have shown the most significant improvements in cholesterol levels. They establish risk categories to determine the need for statin use. “High risk” include those who have already suffered a heart attack or stroke or suffer from cardiovascular disease, or who have abnormally high LDL levels. It is recommended that these patients use statins. For others, the American Heart Association has created a risk calculator to determine if statin use is appropriate. According to the guidelines, anyone with a risk of 7.5% or above on this calculator could benefit from statin use. Some factors analyzed in this new tool include sex, age, blood pressure, LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, smoking status, diabetes, and race.
            So why is there such controversy with these new guidelines? To many, it seems that this tool promotes simply using medication to cure cholesterol instead of implementing appropriate lifestyle changes. Dietitians working in the field of cardiovascular health see this new recommendation as positive. They emphasized that anytime there is focus on cardiovascular health, people are becoming more educated and aware of changes they need to make. They are also helpful that there will be more dialogue between doctors and patients seeing that the statins are recommended along with lifestyle changes.
            Dietitians firmly believe that doctors should begin with emphasizing lifestyle changes before implementing statins and even should provide guidance to those who are on statins. As physicians become familiar with the recommendations, dietitians have the chance to help in emphasizing the importance of lifestyle changes for this population and helping patients make sustainable, lifelong changes to maintain optimal heart health.

Thalheimer JC. New cholesterol guidelines released – lifestyle changes and statin use said to make the most impact on cutting risk. Today’s Dietitian. 2014:16(3);14.

View article at: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/030314p14.shtml

BB

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do you struggle with pre and post exercise nutrition?

-
Image
What should i eat before and after a workout? First things first…carbohydrates, proteins and fats are important for the body before  and after exercise. Exercising muscle preferentially uses carbohydrates from stored glycogen, but fats are also an important fuel source for energy production during exercise. Fats and carbohydrates are the two major fuel sources during exercise. Fats must be translocated and broken down from their storage form before they are used. Typically there is enough carbohydrate stored as muscle glycogen for exercise but as muscle glycogen stores decline, the skeletal muscle will then use some amino acids (basic components of all protein). More specifically, the amino acid leucine is used for energy.              It is important to consume an adequate amount of carbohydrates exercise to delay fatigue and minimize gastrointestinal distress. It is also important to consume enough fluids to prev...
Read more

Child Malnutrition

-
New approach to childhood malnutrition may reduce relapses, deaths http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150211124024.htm               Moderate acute malnutrition is experienced by 35 million children worldwide. A new study led by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has suggested that feeding children until they have met target measures of arm circumference and weight may be more important than a set 12 week feeding time. However, researchers have found that the current targets, set by the World Health Organization (WHO) may not be sufficient and raising these targets slightly could significantly reduce the risk of relapse in malnourished children; a condition that has a 37% relapse rate. The study took place in rural Malawi and was comprised of 2,349 moderately malnourished children aged 6 months to 5 years old. Children were evaluated 12 months after treatment; 1,967 rec...
Read more

Harvest of the Month

-
Image
Harvest of the Month  August – Corn Good source of  fiber Carbohydrate source for energy Antioxidants Contains vitamins and minerals ½ cup or 1 ear = 80 calories   http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=90 September – Watermelon High in vitamin A and vitamin C Antioxidants and anti-inflammatory support 1 cup cubed = 46 calories http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=31 October – Apples High in fiber Vitamin C Abundant amount of antioxidants 1 medium = 95 calories  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=15 November – Squash and Pumpkin High in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B2, B3 & B6 Many minerals  High in fiber Multiple antioxidant properties  1 cup = 76 calories  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=63 Decembe...
Read more