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SHAPE
Task Force Invites Advocates and Critics of Recommended Heart Attack
Prevention Guideline to Debate
The SHAPE Task Force, an international
contingent of leading cardiologists and researchers organized by the
Association for Eradication of Heart Attack, is inviting critics of
its new guidelines for preventive cardiology the SHAPE Guidelines to
a scientific debate during a satellite event held in conjunction
with the upcoming annual scientific sessions of the American Heart
Association 2006 in Chicago. The invitation follows the publication
in July of the SHAPE Task Force report that recommended screening of
apparently healthy at-risk men and women to detect and treat
asymptomatic atherosclerosis, which underlies virtually all heart
attacks and the majority of strokes.
Southlake, TX (PRWEB)
November 07, 2006
The SHAPE Screening for Heart Attack Prevention and Education Task
Force has invited critics of its new guidelines for preventive
cardiology the SHAPE Guidelines to a scientific debate during a
satellite event held in conjunction with the upcoming annual
scientific sessions of the American Heart Association 2006 in
Chicago. The invitation follows the publication in July of the SHAPE
Task Force report that recommended screening of apparently healthy
at-risk men and women to detect and treat asymptomatic
atherosclerosis, which underlies virtually all heart attacks and the
majority of strokes.
The SHAPE Task Force, an international contingent of leading
cardiologists and researchers organized by the Association for
Eradication of Heart Attack, www.AEHA.org, calls for an overhaul of
traditional medical practice related to heart attack prevention. The
Task Force considers the existing guidelines, which rely on
screening for traditional risk factors such as high cholesterol and
blood pressure, to be grossly inaccurate, inefficient and outdated.
"Atherosclerosis is a disease that ought to be screened, detected,
and treated," said Dr. Morteza Naghavi, chairman of the SHAPE Task
Force. "It kills more people than any other ailment. Why don't we
have a national guideline for detection and treatment of
asymptomatic atherosclerosis?"
The SHAPE Guidelines recommend screening for atherosclerosis beyond
risk factors of atherosclerosis.
The SHAPE guideline calls for non-invasive screening of all
asymptomatic men between ages 45 and 75 and women between ages 55
and 75 to assess their coronary plaque buildup or carotid wall
thickness. Accurate assessments are considered essential for
preventing heart attack and stroke, which account for more death and
disability than all cancers combined. Next year, more than 500,000
Americans will have a first heart attack, almost all of which are
expected to come from the SHAPE-eligible population. The SHAPE Task
Force regards these individuals as asymptomatic vulnerable patients.
"Focusing only on risk factors of atherosclerosis is not sufficient,
and in most cases misleads the physicians and patients about the
risk of a near future heart attack" says Dr. Daniel Berman,
Professor of Medicine at UCLA and Chief of Nuclear Cardiology at
Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles who is a member of the
SHAPE Task Force. "We now have the tools to identify most of the
high risk individuals who are vulnerable to heart attack"
The Task Force recommends novel standards for the careful and
responsible implementation of cardiovascular imaging technologies as
part of a comprehensive heart attack risk assessment and reduction
strategy. While much of the world's cardiology community
enthusiastically welcomed the much needed change prompted by the
SHAPE Guidelines, some were critical of the recommendation.
The organization invited the participation of representatives of the
National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and
other individuals and cardiovascular professional organizations to a
scientific debate.
"The purpose of publishing the SHAPE Guidelines and the debate is to
push this important issue onto the national agenda and get the
healthcare community to seriously consider the need for change,"
said Dr. Harvey Hecht, director of Cardiovascular CT Imaging at
Lenox Hill Hospital in New York who is a member of the SHAPE Task
Force. "We hope to build on our momentum with as many scientific
debates as needed by allowing an open discussion of the issues and
concerns".
Meanwhile, the SHAPE Task Force is urging the United States
government to reconsider its reimbursement policy for preventive
cardiology and heart attack prevention. Most insurance programs and
Medicare fail to cover SHAPE-recommended tests for detection of
coronary and carotid atherosclerosis. The tests include coronary
artery calcium score CACS measure by CT and carotid intima-media
thickness CIMT and plaque measured by ultrasonography. As a result,
these proven procedures remain out of financial reach of average
Americans.
"The country's existing cardiovascular healthcare is utterly
dominated by use of expensive technologies to treat patients after
they suffer a heart attack, which is too late and results in too
little benefit to the patient," said Dr. Mathew Budoff, professor of
medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and a member of the SHAPE
Task Force "We hope public and private payers will see the wisdom of
reimbursement for the use of modern technologies that can prevent
heart attacks."
A report by the SHAPE Task Force's Cost Effectiveness Analysis
Committee estimates that screening asymptomatic men and women could
prevent more than 90,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease each
year, and save approximately $21.5 billion annually by saving those
at highest risk, most of whom are unaware of the danger they are
facing.
The upcoming SHAPE Task Force event is the 11th of such meetings
held under the Vulnerable Patient Satellite Symposium. It is
scheduled for 7:00 p.m. November 13, 2006 at the Hyatt McCormick
Hotel, Pullman Prairie Center in Chicago.
Funding for the event is provided by philanthropic donations and not
supported by any companies. One of the major issues raised by the
critiques was that the publication of the SHAPE Task Force report in
American Journal of Cardiology was partially supported by Pfizer
Inc. While it is customary for non-profit medical organizations to
seek funding from pharmaceutical companies, the AEHA decided to not
seek funding from pharmaceutical companies in order to prevent
unjustified critiques.
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