HEART DISEASE
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Combating this silent killer means first understanding the risk factors that contribute to heart disease.
Some risk factors cannot be controlled while others can. According to the American Heart Association age, sex and heredity are three factors that can increase your risk of heart disease.
- 83 percent of heart disease deaths happen to people older than age 65
- Men are at greater risk of heart attack than women
- African Americans are at greater risk of high blood pressure than Caucasians
- American Indians, Mexican Americans, some Asian Americans and native Hawaiians also have a higher risk of heart disease
- Children of parents with a history of heart disease are at greater risk of getting heart disease themselves
Even if you’re in one of these higher risk groups, there are steps you can take to decrease your risk of heart disease. There are a variety of risk factors that you can control and lower your chances of getting heart disease, including:
- Tobacco use
- High blood cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Physical inactivity
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Stress
- Too much alcohol
Your doctor can recommend changes to your diet and lifestyle that can help lower your overall risk of heart disease. In some cases, your doctor may also recommend prescription medications to control your cholesterol. For many people, the greatest risk involves high LDL (bad) cholesterol and one of the most common treatments for lowering LDL cholesterol is a class of drugs called statins.
While there are many different statins available, not all statins are created equal. Different patients with different risk factors require different medications and thinking that all statins are alike could result in a costly and potentially deadly miscalculation. Patient attributes like sex, race, family history, age and other factors should be discussed before any particular statin is prescribed or used. In some cases, a generic statin might be the best option. For high risk patients, a different statin might be indicated. The important thing is to determine your cholesterol goal and then tailor a treatment regimen that gets you to that goal.
Not only should you have good communications with your doctor, you should also have good communications with your health insurance provider. Medication costs and insurance formularies often change so it’s important to know what options are available to you. That’s the best way to make sure you have affordable access to the most effective medications.
It’s also important to make sure you don’t trade effective treatment for lower costs. A push for lower priced statins might lead to switching from a proven treatment to one that’s more “cost effective.” For high risk patients, such a switch could have serious consequences. There should be no room for experimentation with different cholesterol treatments among high risk patients.
Remember to talk to your doctor about your options. Because some statins are recognized as more effective for high risk patients, you may have more treatment options available than you think. |
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Heart Disease Risk Factors – The Centers for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/heartDisease/risk_factors.htm
Cholesterol overview – The American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1516
Cholesterol Medications – The American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3044771
Atherosclerosis – National Library of Science and the National Institutes of Health
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/MEDLINEPLUS/ency/article/000171.htm
About Atherosclerosis
http://www.usagainstathero.com/about-atherosclerosis/index.aspx
New Benefits for Statins – Web MD
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20081110/crestor-faq-new-benefits-for-statins |
