(FAMILY FEATURES) — On average, someone in the

United States dies from

cardiovascular disease

(CVD) every 36 seconds,

approximately 2,380 deaths each

day, according to the American Heart

Association. Each day, 405 deaths

occur in the U.S. as the result of

strokes, an average of one death

every 3:33. More people die annually

from CVD than from any other cause

including cancer, COPD, diabetes,

lung infections and the flu, according

to the American Heart Association

(AHA) 2021 Heart Disease and

Stroke Statistics.

Consider these steps to

#RethinkCVRisk to change the

course of the disease and your life.

Understand Your Risk

COVID-19 has shown that those with

underlying CVD face an especially high

risk of serious COVID-19-related illness

or even death, according to the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC). Regardless of whether you’ve

received your COVID-19 vaccination,

now is a good time to discuss your risk

for heart disease with your doctor.

How Cardiovascular

Disease Develops

Risk factors for CVD include high

cholesterol, high triglycerides,

diabetes and high blood pressure.

Other factors that contribute to risk are

family history, prior cardiovascular

(CV) events, smoking, being overweight

or obese and unhealthy diet

and exercise habits. Over time,

these risk factors can lead to injury

of the blood vessel lining, causing

inflammation, which can then trigger

plaque growth. Plaque grows at

different rates and in different arteries

in the body for everyone and is often

a slow, gradual process without

symptoms.

As plaque buildup continues, the risk

of suffering a CV event – such as heart

attack or stroke – increases. If plaque

ruptures, the body will try to repair the

injury, potentially causing a blockage

to form, and when an artery becomes

fully blocked, blood flow is restricted.

Blocked blood flow to the heart causes

a heart attack while blocked blood flow

to the brain causes a stroke.

Managing Risk Factors

The most effective way to prevent

CVD is to understand and address

risk factors. Triglycerides play

an important role in heart health.

Triglycerides store unused calories

to give your body energy and are the

most common type of fat in the body.

They come from foods you eat such

as butter, oils and other fats, as well

as carbohydrates, sugars and alcohol.

Your diet, lack of exercise, medical

conditions, certain drugs and genetics

can all cause high triglycerides.

In the past, medicines used to lower

triglycerides, like fenofibrates and

niacin, were commonly prescribed

to help manage CV risk along with

statins. However, clinical studies

failed to show benefits and both the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) and American Diabetes Association

discourage combining

niacin and

fenofibrates with statins.

Some turn to dietary supplement

fish oil to help manage CV risk.

However, supplements contain only

30% of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA

and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) with

the majority of the product consisting

of non-omega-3 ingredients, including

saturated fats. Some data suggests certain

ingredients

in dietary supplement

fish oils, such as DHA and saturated

fats, may raise bad cholesterol.

While high triglycerides are an

indicator of CV risk, lowering

them

won’t necessarily reduce your risk.

However, addressing the underlying

causes of high triglycerides can help,

according to the AHA.

Treatment Options

With ongoing research, new standardsof-

care are emerging. High cholesterol

is a key CV risk factor with statins

currently the first-line therapy for

lowering cholesterol. Statins, diet and

exercise can lower your CV risk by

about 25-35%, but, for many people,

controlled cholesterol doesn’t eliminate

CV risk. This residual risk, or “persistent

CV risk,” puts millions of patients at risk

and has been the focus of therapeutic

development for many years.

Talk with your doctor about FDAapproved

options that can help further

reduce your heart risk if you already

take statins.

For more information about CVD

and what you can do, look for

#RethinkCVRisk on social media

or visit truetoyourheart.com.