Heart Risk Assessment PowerPoint Show

Learning objectives & benefits:

• Meet the AHA and ACC Guidelines to lower the risk of heart disease
• A closer look at the keys to heart health
• Moving away from just testing cholesterol levels and looking at the whole picture for heart health
• Moving towards statin drugs for four groups at risk of heart disease
• The importance of lifestyle changes
• Calculating your 10-year heart attack risk

This is a useful presentaion for in-service education for dietitians, nurses, and dietary managers. It presents an overview of the ACC/AHA Guideline on treating Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults. It is meant to get you and your colleagues up to speed fast with the new cardiovascular disease risk management changes as given by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.

It is also useful for patients who are in the four risk groups for heart disease:

• patients with diabetes,
• patients who have cardiovascular disease,
• patients with LDL over 190
• adults over 40 who score over 7.5 on the 10-year heart attack risk test.

Here is an overview of the program by Lynn Greiger, RDN, MNT:

The ACC/AHA Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults strongly states that lifestyle is the foundation for risk reduction of ASCVD (atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease). Adhering to a heart-healthy diet, regular exercise, avoiding tobacco products, and maintaining a healthy weight are key strategies for everyone. Even with statin therapy, lifestyle changes in food choices and physical activity level are the cornerstone of primary and secondary prevention of ASCVD.

With the advent of the new ASCVD risk calculator and the potential for a greater number of people to be placed on statin therapy, more people may be interested in learning how to lower LDL-C levels and reduce overall risk with lifestyle changes as a way to avoid medication.

The risk calculator includes four areas where diet plays a key role: total cholesterol, HDL, systolic blood pressure, and diabetes. I suggest including gestational diabetes, prediabetes, and a family history of diabetes in the discussion. Although BMI is not included in the risk assessment calculator, a separate workgroup published guidelines on overweight and obesity as a part of the overall recommendations.

The specific dietary changes are not new information but reflect the current research body. Recommendations were derived from high-quality randomized trials, meta-analyses, and observational studies and were not formulated when sufficient evidence was unavailable. There is insufficient evidence to support dietary changes to lower total cholesterol, and instead, the emphasis is placed on lowering LDL-C.

Specs:

• Number of slides with speaker's notes: 33
• Number of handout pages (PDF): 4, which includes an infographic of the new guidelines plus a 3-page word paper by Lynn for dietitians and health professionals with tips to use them with patients
• Target audience: Adults
• Approximate length of show: 30 minutes
• Get an immediate digital download and lifetime updates to the digital file.\