Doctors Aim for Better Heart Failure Prevention

By Jonathan Springston, Editor, AHC Media

Physicians may be able to treat and prevent heart failure earlier, thanks to updated guidelines released by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Failure Society of America.

The guidelines, an extended update of recommendations released last year, call for physicians to test blood for natriuretic peptides, which the body releases when the heart is damaged. If the tests return positive, that could alert physicians to the need for early treatment, possibly averting future problems. Additionally, the guidelines call for lowering blood pressure to below 130/80 mmHg and treating other underlying conditions that negatively affect the heart, such as sleep disorders and anemia, with a combination of pharmacotherapy and other noninvasive tests.

“For clinical practice guidelines to be truly useful, new evidence that changes clinical practice should be rapidly incorporated in the guidelines and disseminated to the practice community. These updates were deemed necessary as new evidence in all of the areas addressed, derived from clinical trials, has emerged since the 2013 Heart Failure Guidelines and now merits inclusion,” said Clyde W. Yancy, MD, MSc, MACC, FAHA, FHFSA, chair of the writing group for the document.

Researchers estimate that more than 6 million Americans live with heart failure, with that number expected to reach 8 million by 2030. Only half of those diagnosed with this condition survive more than five years. Worse, about one-quarter of those diagnosed with acute heart failure pass away within one year.

“For the first time, we really believe the data are in hand to inform how we might best prevent this disease,” Yancy added. “Preventing the progression to symptomatic heart failure is incredibly important.”

For more on the new guidelines and much more critical analysis of the latest research in cardiovascular medicine, be sure to check out Clinical Cardiology Alert.