For Heart Month, Doctors Suggest Regular Screenings

By: Eric Tegethoff, Public News Service – WA

SEATTLE — February is Heart Health Month, and doctors are encouraging folks to get regular heart screenings.

Recently, guidelines for blood pressure targets have been revised, eliminating the category of prehypertension and suggesting that patients be treated when their blood pressure is above 120 over 80. Dr. David McCulloch, a diabetes specialist at Kaiser Permanente Washington, said what is really important here may not be the new set of guidelines but the awareness raised about heart health from the revisions.

“The biggest problem we still have is that a third of the population or more are walking around with blood pressure over 140 [over] 90,” McCulloch said. “And so the practical issue is what do health care systems do to try to ensure that we screen people and at least get to that target?”

McCulloch said once a person’s blood pressure is below 140 over 90, then it might be time to consider a lower target. He added that for some patients, such as those with diabetes or who have experienced a heart attack, the target should always be lower than 140 over 90. McCulloch said blood pressure should be measured at every opportunity.

There are some simple solutions to better heart health. McCulloch said 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day is important, as well as limiting alcohol consumption to two drinks per day.

He also said there is evidence the so-called Mediterranean diet is best for the heart.

“That’s a diet that’s high in vegetables, fiber, nuts, grains, is very low in dairy and unsaturated fat, such as meat, and slightly higher in things like olive oil and fish,” he said.

McCulloch said if a person has a healthy lifestyle and their blood pressure still is high, medication is the next best route and, fortunately, most medications are generic drugs and relatively cheap.