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Clinical leaders in Indian health throughout
the nation have addressed the special
issues of cardiovascular disease (CVD) management in American
Indians and Alaska Natives through the development of the Consensus
Guidelines on the Treatment of Dyslipidemias in Native Americans.
These guidelines, recently completed, will help provide health
professionals serving Indian communities and Indian people with an
optimal approach to CVD prevention and treatment through management
of the cholesterol and triglyceride lipids.
“These guidelines will help reduce the
impact of cardiovascular disease in Indian communities,” HHS Secretary
Tommy G. Thompson said. “Despite
improvements in many areas, serious health disparities continue to affect
ethnic and racial minorities, including American Indians and Alaska Natives.
HHS is working to reduce these disparities through prevention and
education efforts like this one.”
While the mortality rate for CVD in the general
U.S. population has declined by more than 50% since the mid-1960s, CVD
incidence rates in American Indian and Alaska Native populations have
increased remarkably during this period, with heart disease now being the
leading cause of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives.
"In light of the rapid and significant
increase in CVD rates among American
Indians and Alaska Natives, these guidelines are an important
component of the Indian health system efforts to prevent and effectively
treat CVD in the Indian population," said Dr. Michael H. Trujillo,
Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS).
"This is part of a coordinated CVD prevention and treatment
effort to help Indian people deal with these issues directly in their
communities."
The
prevalence of many of the classic risk factors for CVD have also been noted
to be increasing among American Indians and Alaska Natives, such as a
significant increase in the prevalence of hypertension; an increase in
tobacco use, especially in the teen years; an increase in obesity; and the
well recognized increase in diabetes. Current
evidence suggests that abnormal lipid levels in the blood play a major role
in the development of CVD and may be more easily amenable to intervention
than some of the other risk factors.
As a sense of urgency was noted related to these
trends in CVD, more than 70 clinical leaders in Indian health throughout the
nation came together at the December 2000 conference to address
the special issues of lipid management in the adult Indian population and to
develop a consensus on the optimal approach to CVD prevention and treatment.
The conference brought together IHS physicians, cardiologists,
nurses, and other health professionals, as well as a number of Indian
providers and clinicians, including a traditional healer, to assist in the
development of the guidelines. These efforts were joined by nationally
renowned outside experts, including one of the authors of the American
Heart Association Scientific Statement of Diabetes and Heart Disease
and two committee members of the recently released National
Cholesterol Education Program ATP III Guidelines.
"Dyslipidemia
detection and aggressive intervention is vitally important in the prevention
of CVD," stated Dr. James Galloway, Director of the IHS Native American
Cardiology Program and conference organizer.
"Other aspects of CVD prevention also require attention and will
be addressed both in future guideline conferences and major preventative
efforts."
NOTE TO EDITORS: To
receive additional information on this subject, please contact Dr. Galloway
at 520-214-3920. Additional
information about the IHS is available on the IHS website at http://www.ihs.gov/
and http://info.ihs.gov. A copy of the
Consensus Guidelines on the Treatment of Dyslipidemias in Native Americans
is also available at http://www.ihs.gov/MedicalPrograms/CIR/LIPIDGuidelines.doc.
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