(GIPhotoStock, Getty Images) Health care providers regularly consult documents called guidelines when determining the best way to treat a patient. But what exactly are guidelines? Why are they so important? And how are they made? Guidelines help doctors understand the best ways to diagnose, treat and even prevent diseases and conditions. Guideline recommendations are based…
Using the latest guidelines on high blood pressure would result in nearly 950,000 more U.S. stroke survivors diagnosed with the disease and could reduce deaths among stroke survivors by nearly one-third, according to new research. The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, comes in the wake of updated guidelines on…
The number of Americans at risk for heart attacks and strokes just got a lot higher. An estimated 103 million U.S. adults have high blood pressure, according to new statistics from the American Heart Association. That’s nearly half of all adults in the United States. “With the aging of the population and increased life expectancy,…
More stroke patients will be eligible for two critical treatments proven to reduce disability, according to new guidelines from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. The guidelines(link opens in new window) issued Wednesday cover acute ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke, one that is caused by a blood clot that reduces or stops…
Lea en español ANAHEIM, California — Nearly half of American adults are at risk for major health problems because of high blood pressure, according to a new scientific guideline that redefines the dangerous condition and provides tactics for doctors to detect, treat and prevent it. People with readings of 130 as the top number or…
A new, less invasive approach for replacing malfunctioning heart valves is now recommended for certain patients, and younger patients can now receive natural tissue valves instead of mechanical ones, according to new treatment guidelines. The recommendations released Wednesday by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology affect some of the estimated 5 million…
Many of the roughly 15.5 million Americans with coronary heart disease will receive new advice regarding whether and how long to take aspirin combined with another blood-thinning antiplatelet to prevent clotting under updated guidelines(link opens in new window) released Tuesday by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association. For some patients, this will…
Play without Auto-Play Play Video Updated resuscitation guidelines refine how fast and how deep chest compressions should be during CPR – although it’s unlikely that a non-professional rescuer will notice. The new rate of chest compressions is 100 to 120 compressions, or pushes, per minute, compared to “at least 100” in previous guidelines, according to the American Heart Association. For…
Hospitals nationwide may soon change how they treat the most disabling strokes after new guidelines released Monday recommend using tiny devices to snag large clots from a blocked artery within the brain. The clot-removal devices are wire cages called stent retrievers, or “stentrievers,” and the American Heart Association is giving them its strongest recommendation after…
The American Heart Association is no longer only keeping tabs on America’s health. For the first time in the 50 years that the AHA has released an annual snapshot of heart disease and stroke statistics in the U.S., the new report(link opens in new window) released Wednesday now adds a global view. Health data compiled…