|
News / Headlines
SHAPE Applauds Dallas Heart Study Researchers for Independent
Confirmation that Screening According to SHAPE Guidelines Detects
High Risk Patients Missed by Existing Practices
Heart attacks and strokes account for more death and disability than
all cancers combined. While multiple screening tests are approved
for early detection of subclinical cancers, no tests are officially
approved for detection of subclinical atherosclerosis, which
underlies both heart attack and stroke. This void leaves many
individuals - even those with severe atherosclerosis -unaware of
their risk because they have no symptoms. In this context, leading
cardiologists from the Society for Heart Attack Prevention and
Eradication applaud the efforts of Dallas Heart Study researchers
who discovered existing national heart attack prevention guidelines
missed 27% of patients with plaque buildups in their heart providing
important evidence that inexpensive imaging tests can identify
patients at risk and lead to strategies that will prevent heart
attacks. Independent of SHAPE, researchers with the Dallas Heart
Study have confirmed that the most effective way to identify at-risk
individuals is not to measure risk factors but to detect the
underlying disease itself, atherosclerosis, as suggested by the
SHAPE Guidelines.
Houston, TX (PRWEB) June 8, 2008 -- Leading cardiologists from the
Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication applaud the
efforts of Dallas Heart Study researchers who discovered existing
national heart attack prevention guidelines missed 27% of patients
with plaque buildups in their heart and offered them no therapeutic
protections when compared to the SHAPE guidelines.
"Every day over 1900 previously healthy-looking individuals arrive
at emergency rooms with a 1st-time heart attack. Using traditional
risk assessment guidelines, about 80% of them would have been
considered to be at low to intermediate risk prior to their heart
attack " said Dr. Morteza Naghavi, Chairman of the SHAPE, Task
Force.
"It has been obvious for some time that new strategies are needed to
fight the growing epidemic of atherosclerotic cardiovascular
disease. Continuing to do what we have done in the past 20 years,
while useful, will not suffice. Heart attack has been the number one
killer in this country for decades. To change the status quo we need
to change the way we think and practice." added Dr. Naghavi
Heart attacks and strokes account for more death and disability than
all cancers combined. Multiple screening tests are approved for
early detection of subclinical cancers such as mammography for
breast cancer and colonoscopy for colon cancer. However, no tests
are officially approved for detection of subclinical
atherosclerosis, which underlies both heart attack and stroke. This
void leaves many individuals - even those with severe
atherosclerosis -unaware of their risk because they have no
symptoms.
"The publication of the results of the UT Southwestern team's
findings, where investigators used the SHAPE Guidelines without the
involvement of the members of the SHAPE initiative, gives us hope
that we can continue to build new momentum in cardiology that
inspires physicians to use modern imaging technologies for early
detection of subclinical atherosclerosis so that individuals at risk
can be identified and aggressively targetted for the prevention of
heart attack and stroke. An ounce of prevention is better than a
pound of treatment after a heart attack," said Dr. P.K. Shah,
director, Division of Cardiology and Atherosclerosis Research Center
at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and a member of the
non-profit SHAPE Board of Directors.
Though the Dallas Heart Study made no predictions about clinical
outcomes, the study's findings relative to risk assessment and
treatment underscore the original conclusions of the SHAPE Task
Force which produced the SHAPE Guideline. That same SHAPE Task Force
estimated that atherosclerosis screening of an appropriate subset of
asymptomatic men and women could lead to the following potential
clinical outcomes:
* prevent more than 90,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease each
year.
* reduce the population with a history of heart attack - currently
estimated to be 13.2 million - by as much as 25 percent.
* save approximately $21.5 billion annually by saving those at
highest risk, most of whom are unaware of the danger they are
facing.
"While nearly half of individuals who have heart attacks or sudden
death don't even know they have disease, we already have treatments
that could prevent a the majority of these catastrophic events. This
Dallas Heart Study publication provides important evidence that
inexpensive imaging tests can identify patients at risk and lead to
preventive strategies that will prevent heart attacks," said Dr.
Daniel Berman, director of Cardiac Imaging at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center and a member of the SHAPE Board of Directors.
"Traditional risk factors play a major role in the development of
heart attack and stroke, but they fail to reliably identify
individuals who are at risk and consequently need preventive
therapy. The main reason is that the individual susceptibility to
risk factors varies greatly; some individuals have susceptible
arteries whereas others have strong and resistant arteries.
Consequently, the most effective way to identify at-risk individuals
is not to measure risk factors but to detect the underlying disease
itself, atherosclerosis, as suggested by the SHAPE Guidelines - and
it was indeed confirmed by the Dallas Heart Study." said Dr. Erling
Falk, a pioneering cardiovascular pathologist from Aarhus University
in Denmark who coordinated the Writing Group of the original SHAPE
Task Force and who continues service to SHAPE on its Board.
About the Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication
(SHAPE)
The mission of SHAPE is to eradicate heart attack by championing new
strategies for early detection and prevention while advancing the
scientific quest for a cure. SHAPE visualizes a world free from the
threat of heart attack. The goals of SHAPE are to reduce the
instances of heart attack - especially in the asymptomatic patient -
through education programs presented to both healthcare
professionals and the community. SHAPE believes that education and
ongoing research are key elements in the success of programs
designed to go beyond the norm in the early detection and treatment
of cardiovascular disease which include:
-Education and dissemination of the SHAPE Guidelines designed to
find and assist all individuals who are at risk for heart attack -
with special focus on the asymptomatic individual. SHAPE is, in
fact, the only heart health organization dedicated to at-risk,
asymptomatic individuals.
-SHAPE Symposia for cardiovascular professionals conducted twice a
year that review current medical research and trends.
-SHAPE Public Education Programsincluding a leading-edge interactive
website where both medical professionals and the community can
access the latest research in the battle to defeat heart attack.
-The SHAPE Clinic, our signature initiative, will help conduct,
standardize and proliferate non-invasive screening of all
asymptomatic men 45-75 years of age and asymptomatic women 55-75
years of age to detect those with subclinical atherosclerosis and
direct them toward preventative treatment. These are the very
individuals who, currently, are arriving in our ERs with unpredicted
sudden heart attack.
-Professional education for the development of the "polypill" and a
vaccine for atherosclerosis as future population-based strategies
for the eradication of heart attack. |
