KENDALL, Fla. – Thursday marks the start of Heart Month, which is a time when all people, especially women, are encouraged to focus on their cardiovascular health.
In this health report, Local 10 News looks at some of the latest research and advancements in cardiac treatment and care.
Every 33 seconds, one person dies from heart disease in the United States, making it the leading cause of death in both men and women.
“Overall, with cardiovascular disease, we are seeing a favorable trend, a slight decline in cardiovascular events unfortunately those trends are not in all communities and all populations, so we still have some work to do as far as equity as to who is benefitting from cardiovascular treatments and advancements,” said Dr. Marcus St. John, an interventional cardiologist with Baptist Health South Florida and local board president of the American Heart Association.
He said among the latest advancements is research into a high blood pressure medication called Zilebesiran.
“It inhibits or reduces the production of an enzyme that’s produced in the liver called angiotensinogen and that name is only important because it’s a big part in the development of high blood pressure. many of the medications to treat high blood pressure work downstream, so Zilebesiran attacks the problem at its beginning,” St. John said.
And there are newer surgical interventions including minimally invasive procedures that benefit even the most severe stroke patients and imaging alternatives that help guide stent placement in complex procedures.
“The more that we put stents into people the more important that we place them perfectly and that we reduce the risk of stent-related complications,” St. John said.
In spite of the advancements in treatment, experts say Prevention is still key.
The biggest threats to heart health include smoking, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and stress.
“If we are successful in getting patients to improve in all of those domains and equally among all communities, we have a real great shot at decreasing incidence of cardiovascular events among everyone,” St. John said.
Outside of a person’s individual control, St. John said access to healthy food, safe places to walk and live, and clean air should be the focus of public policy efforts which could lower the overall population risk for heart disease.