Asymptomatic cardiovascular changes are powerful predictor of future hea...( NEW ORLEANS Nov. 9 An index of early ...),Health

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 9 An index of early cardiovascular changes measurable even before symptoms appear is a more powerful predictor of future stroke, heart attack or other coronary heart disease than traditional risk factors such as smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. More aggressive intervention at the time these changes are first detected could have a positive impact on cardiovascular disease-related illness and death.

In a study presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2004 in New Orleans, Lewis Kuller, M.D., Dr. P.H., professor and past chair of the department of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, reported on the short-term outcome of patients in the Cardiovascular Heart Study, a population-based longitudinal study of coronary heart disease and stroke in adults over age 65 sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

"Now we can identify older men and women who don't have any clinical disease or other risk factors, and yet who are at very high risk," said Dr. Kuller. "Especially among women, these measures are really quite powerful."

Measures of early cardiovascular changes before symptoms appear, such as narrowing of the carotid arteries, electrocardiographic abnormalities and ankle-arm blood pressure index and carotid intima-media thickness (markers of early atherosclerosis), all were found to be strong,independent risk factors for future cardiovascular events including heart attack and stroke,Dr. Kuller said.

Data were analyzed for 2,454 patients with subclinical disease as identified by this index of measures and 1,608 people who did not have early evidence of cardiovascular disease referenced over a period of more than 10 years to gauge predictive value for later development of clinical heart disease factors such as angina, heart attack, bypass surgery or angioplasty and stroke. Those who had evi
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9-Nov-2004

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