AHA recommendations for preventing heart disease in women
Dennis J. Cheek PhD, RN, FAHA
Nicholas McIntire Sherrod BSN, RN
Melissa M. Sherrod PhD, RN
Mandy Tate Spitzer BSN, RN

$7.95 		Nursing2013
May 2013 
Volume 43  Number 5
Pages 61 - 65
 
  PDF Version Available!

ABSTRACT
SINCE THE FIRST American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines were published in 1999, professional awareness, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women have improved significantly. The scientific, medical, and nursing community can take much of the credit. Nurses now know that heart disease isn't just a "man's disease" and that typical signs and symptoms of CVD differ between men and women. While this progress is cause for celebration, much work remains to be done.Despite intensive efforts in the past 10 years to raise awareness and educate women about their risk of heart disease, disturbing gaps in knowledge about risk, risk reduction, and immediate action needed in an emergency emphasize the need for more preventive interventions.1 This article examines current guidelines from the AHA for prevention of CVD in women, addresses risk factors and disparities in healthcare delivery in the United States, and discusses what nurses can do to implement these guidelines. The new guidelines call for a renewed focus on health education and lifestyle trends. (See Encompassing global issues.)Preventing heart disease in women presents a greater challenge to healthcare professionals than prevention in men. Many healthcare providers underestimate heart disease risk for women and provide suboptimal recommendations for coronary heart disease (CHD) prevention.1 (See Startling statistics for more about the impact of heart disease on women.)To address this problem, in 2007 the AHA designed a simplified risk categorization of CVD in women to raise awareness in healthcare providers and women. The 2007 guidelines recommended a graded intensity of preventive intervention based on the intensity of risk.The AHA expert panel members emphasized that healthcare professionals should obtain a medical and lifestyle history and a family history of CVD and take markers of preclinical disease and conditions into account as they make decisions about preventive therapy.Although the

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