Tough sell: Preventive cardiology

Tough sell: Course coaxes trainees toward preventive cardiology

April 18, 2012 Shelley Wood
                                       

Dubai, UAE - It's a tricky question: how to convince young doctors to get involved in CVD prevention, when other areas of cardiology are so alluring—and more lucrative? That conundrum was, in part, the impetus for a three-part preventive-cardiology session aimed at students and cardiology trainees that opened the World Congress of Cardiology (WCC) 2012.

It's a tough sell in a part of the world where salaries and cost of living are high, prestige and reputation are paramount, and other specialties pay better. The UAE has one of the highest per-capita incomes in the world, according to 2011 figures from the International Monetary Fund, with doctors earning some of the highest salaries; there is no income taxation in the UAE.

"Prevention does not in the mind of the public carry the charisma of invasive cardiologists or cardiac surgery," Dr JM Muscat-Baron (Department of Health and Medical Sciences, Dubai) acknowledged to his young audience at the start of the first session. "[But] you are the future and the catalysts for change; you are the teachers of tomorrow."

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"We believe that it is our young trainees who need to be taught how to practice preventive cardiology," Bazargani said. "Unfortunately, preventive cardiology is not well known in our region, and we believe that only way we can reduce the burden of CVD is through preventing it."

This is the first time the WCC has included a preventive-cardiology session specifically aimed at general medical students and cardiology trainees, one of the WCC 2012 program committee members, Dr Nooshin Mohd Bazargani (Dubai Hospital), told heartwire. Preventive cardiology, she pointed out, is not actually taught in many medical schools in the Middle East, despite the burgeoning need.

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Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) Scanning

From: http://www.theheart.org/

Texas Heart Attack Prevention legislation "premature," expert says

February 28, 2011 |                                 Shelley Wood

Dallas, TX - The quiet passage of 2009's Texas Heart Attack Prevention Bill will have ramifications that will "ring loudly" for public health, predicts a Commentary published in the Archives of Internal Medicine this week [1].

As reported in-depth by heartwire, the bill, known as HB 1290, grew out of a bold, unprecedented proposal from the Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Education (SHAPE, a group with no ties to either of the main cardiology professional societies) and mandates insurance coverage at regular intervals for coronary artery calcium (CAC) scanning and carotid ultrasound in the state of Texas. A new bill modeled on the Texas legislation is also poised for consideration in Florida in the coming weeks.

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Conspicuously absent, he notes, was any kind of expert testimony from the American Heart Association or American College of Cardiology. As previously reported by heartwire, both societies stayed mum on SHAPE, drawing criticism for their silence, although the ACC told heartwire that their Texas ACC chapter "officially supported this piece of legislation and [was] glad to see that it has passed."

For many prominent cardiologists who were involved in SHAPE—most of whom don't hail from Texas—the bill's passing in some ways validates the work of their organization. Several SHAPE members have told heartwire that they believe their aggressive support for population-based screening fills a void that the professional societies have been too slow to move into.

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...that the State of Florida is poised to consider Senate Bill 360, inspired by the Texas bill, which would require insurance reimbursement for up to $200 for CAC and CIMT screening. The bill, sponsored by Florida State Senator Mike Fasano, has been submitted and assigned to committee; the Florida legislature begins its sessions tomorrow.

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Asked what he thought about a screening bill now being considered in Florida, Khera said, "In some ways, I can understand why: this is the number-one cause of death, and I certainly appreciate that legislators want to do something, because people are dying from heart disease."

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http://www.theheart.org/article/1190599.do?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Theheartorg+%28theheart.org%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

A Critical Look at Jupiter (Not the planet)

The following from Dr Dach's Blog:

' The Jupiter Study and associated editorial was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on November 9, 2008. Press releases and media hype followed.

The media reports suggested "that even healthy people would benefit from statin drugs." One CNN TV announcer even suggested that statins should be put into the water supply. '

Please go here and read the full article!

Or read Nutrition Data's blog on the same topic titled "Statins for Everyone!"