AHA sets new criteria and goals for cardio health
ED's strong link to CVD doesn't add predictive value over Framingham
A special report from the American Heart Association recently set criteria for ideal cardiovascular health, seven health metrics that can serve as goals for individuals and the U.S. as a whole.
The report's definition of ideal cardiovascular health includes four health behaviors: nonsmoking for at least a year, body mass index of less than 25, physical activity of at least 150 minutes/week at moderate intensity or 75 minutes/week at vigorous intensity, and four or five components of a healthy diet. (The AHA report offered more detailed guidance on healthy diet, which was similar to the DASH [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension] eating plan.)
There are also three health factors included in the definition: untreated total cholesterol under 200 mg/dL, untreated blood pressure under 120/80 mm Hg and fasting blood glucose under 100 mg/dL. Separate criteria were set for measuring children's cardiovascular health. The AHA plans to monitor the metrics to assess change in the U.S. population's cardiovascular health status. The AHA report also set a goal of improving Americans' cardiovascular health by 20% and reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20% by the year 2020. The report was published online in the journal Circulation.
Health behavior changes were also recommended by a new study on salt consumption. Using the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model, researchers calculated the potential health benefits of population-wide reductions in dietary salt. They projected that reducing dietary salt by 3 grams per day per person would reduce the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease by 60,000 to 120,000, stroke by 32,000 to 66,000 and myocardial infarction by 54,000 to 99,000. They concluded that a regulatory intervention to achieve this reduction would save $10 billion to $24 billion in annual health care costs and would be more cost-effective than using medication to treat all patients with hypertension. The study was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine on January 20.