Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Question 1

Primary prevention refers to ___________.

Answer 1

prevention of disease in those without symptoms

Question 2

Those who have ASCVD should receive __________, while those who don’t should be consulted if ___________.

Answer 2

treatment (statins, aspirin, ACE inhibitors); their calculated ten-year risk is greater than 7.5%

Question 3

In those age 50-59, initiate aspirin if _______; in those age 60-69, aspirin is _________.

Answer 3

ten-year risk >10%; optional if ten-year risk is >10%

Question 4

The two worst side effects of aspirin are ________.

Answer 4

GI bleeds and strokes; worse if the patient is older, male, diabetic, and taking NSAIDs

Question 5

Unlike statin therapy, blood pressure guidelines are ______________.

Answer 5

based only on blood pressure; that is, lowering SBP has been shown to decrease cardiovascular risk regardless of other factors

Question 6

What did the 2014 blood-pressure guidelines do, and why are some worried?

Answer 6

They raised BP goals, and some worry that this could impact health nationally.