One more look at guidelines for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in women

Abstract

The most common cause of death in menopausal women is due to complications from cardiovascular disease. However, many physicians feel that the prevention in women may be delayed, because women present the clinical manifestations of cardiovascular disease 10 years later than men. Another matter emerged following the results of the Women's Health Initiative study and of the Heart Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study. Thus the proper interpretation and implementation of science should be included in a strict procedure of appreciation and clear communication for both the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of evidence, used for the clinical guidelines. Based on objective scientific collaboration among various specialities, guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease of adult women with a broad range of cardiovascular risk have been formed. In this review, the guidelines or recommendations which have been reported in the last 2 decades by various scientific societies for prevention of cardiovascular disease in women will be analysed.

Assessment of the 10-year risk of cardiovascular events among a group of Sub-Saharan African post-menopausal women

“…Therefore, concurring Sekuri et al [18] recommendations, strong interventions to significantly reduce CVR among post-menopausal women should be included in routine primary health care programs. As such, these women should receive educational sessions on healthy lifestyles, which revolve around emphasizing regular physical activity, avoiding or stopping smoking, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, maintaining a normal body weight, and adopting a healthy diet [2,19,20]. Omega-3 fatty acids may be administered in high-risk women, as well as folic acid, vitamin K and vitamin D [19,21,22].…”

“…In this regard, women should be educated on consumption of a healthy diet, i.e. consumption of a variety of fruits, vegetables, cereals, dairy products with low or without fat; consumption of fish, legumes, and proteins with low content of unsaturated fat (poultry, lean meat, plant); restriction of consumption of unsaturated fat (< 10% of total calories), cholesterol (300 mg/ /daily), and trans-fatty acids) [2,19,20]. It is worth emphasizing, however, that diet alone may be unsatisfactory and should therefore be associated with regular physical exercise as it has been shown that diet restriction without exercise may appear inefficient [20,33].…”

“…As such, these women should receive educational sessions on healthy lifestyles, which revolve around emphasizing regular physical activity, avoiding or stopping smoking, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, maintaining a normal body weight, and adopting a healthy diet [2,19,20]. Omega-3 fatty acids may be administered in high-risk women, as well as folic acid, vitamin K and vitamin D [19,21,22]. On another hand, glucose intolerance and diabetes should be screened, and women suffering from diabetes should receive adequate management to prevent or delay related complications.…”

Combined exercise training in asymptomatic elderly with controlled hypertension: Effects on functional capacity and cardiac diastolic function

“…During aging, there is usually a progressive reduction in physical activity. Although physical training programs are currently part of recommendations for disease prevention and cardiac rehabilitation [5–8], their effects on LV diastolic function of elderly individuals are still unclear. Most available data have come from studies with elderly who have been involved in sports competitions for periods of at least 10 years [2,4,9–11].…”

Menopause Status and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

“…1 The World Health Organization has defined natural menopause as minimum 12 consecutive months of amenorrhea occurring without any surgical intervention or other pathological causes. 2,3 In the West industrialized populations, the mean ANM is 51 years, and in poor and nonindustrialized populations it is 48 years.…”