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Those at Most Risk for Heart Disease Not Taking
Preventive Actions
June 18, 2004 - Only half the people at high risk
for heart disease take life-saving aspirin tablets and only three out of
four modify their lifestyle to reduce that risk, according to a study of
more than 97,000 Americans.
Doctors could help both men and women by offering
diet and exercise advice more often and patients could lower their risk
of heart disease carrying by out the advice, say Catherine Kim, M.D.,
M.P.H., of the University of Michigan and Gloria L. Beckles, M.D., M.Sc.,
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Their research appears in the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Only 59 percent of men and 46 percent of women at
high risk regularly took aspirin, according to a national survey of
health risk factors.
Aspirin reduces the risk of heart attacks and
strokes by helping to prevent blood clots. Doctors have known of the
effect for years, but only recently have major medical organizations
endorsed standard aspirin use.
Recommendations for aspirin may be less familiar
than guidelines for cholesterol, blood pressure, exercise and diet,
which may account for the low overall rate of aspirin use, Kim and
Beckles say.
Also, high blood pressure, diabetes and high
cholesterol can be measured and then treated. But aspirin is prescribed
on the basis of perceived risk, and womens cardiovascular risk is
perceived by both women and their doctors as being lower than mens
risk. Women may also experience more side effects from aspirin.
However, both men and women reported more routine
tests and lifestyle changes, although less than ideal.
Cholesterol and blood pressure measurements were
performed for the majority of people at high risk for cardiovascular
disease, they say. But only about three-quarters of these people
reported any lifestyle modification.
Women were slightly more likely to have their
cholesterol and blood pressure checked. They also were slightly better
at remembering their doctors advice about exercising more and eating
less fat and cholesterol and they followed that advice more often than
men.
One reason for the difference may be that women
often see a gynecologist as well as their regular physician, improving
their chances of getting these basic health checks and reminders, Kim
and Beckles suggest.
Future researchers might look at why doctors choose
to prescribe aspirin and why patients discontinue using it, they say.
Some funding for this research came from an
American Diabetes Association Junior Faculty Award to Catherine Kim.
By Aaron Levin, Science Writer,Health Behavior News
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