The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recently published updated guidelines for the prevention of stroke. Some of the key updates include the utilization of GLP-1 medications and an emphasis on prevention of stroke in women.
Sadiya Khan, MD, a cardiologist at Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine's Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, shared her reaction to the updated guidelines with Becker's.
Editor's note: Response has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Dr. Sadiya Khan: The premise of the update is that stroke is preventable. That there are key approaches to prevent stroke from ever occurring is a huge step forward for patients and public health.
In the past decade, we have seen a plateau in death rates due to stroke, similar to coronary heart disease. Even more concerning, we are seeing projections that estimate the burden of stroke nearly doubling by 2050, from 3.9% to 6.4%.
Primary prevention could not be a more important issue and the updated guideline is timely.
Other key points that are worth highlighting:
- Amplifying the focus on women's health. Specifically highlighting the risk of stroke around pregnancy and the role of endometriosis, premature ovarian failure and early onset menopause as unique risk markers for stroke.
- A focus on heart-healthy behaviors as the first-line strategy for prevention, specifically promotion of physical activity and mediterranean diet.
- A need to prioritize implementation gaps as the most important and modifiable risk factor in control of hypertension as implementation is currently dismal making control inequitable.