Guidelines Resource Center
Get answers to questions about preventing and treating heart disease and stroke.
The American Heart Association regularly releases guidelines and scientific statements for preventing and treating heart disease and stroke. What do these guidelines mean for you? Should you change your medications? Should you see a doctor for treatment? How do you know if you’re healthy? You’ll find answers here in the Guidelines Resource Center.
High Blood Pressure
In November 2017, the rules changed about what classifies as high blood pressure, also known as hypertension. Experts looking at all the newest data defined hypertension as a reading of 130 on the top or 80 on the bottom. In the past, the standard was 140/90.
- Nearly half of U.S. adults could now be classified with high blood pressure, under new definitions
- Don’t just get your BP taken; make sure it’s taken the right way
- More than half of all African-Americans have high blood pressure under new diagnostic guidelines
- Experts recommend lower blood pressure for older Americans
Prevention
Heart disease and stroke prevention guidelines for doctors urge them to help you avoid heart disease and stroke by prescribing drugs called statins for some of you, treating obesity as a disease and giving you other resources to stay healthy.
- Healthy lifestyle, managing risks are key to preventing heart attack, stroke
- Cholesterol should be on everyone's radar, beginning early in life
- Avoid daily aspirin unless your doctor prescribes it, new guidelines advise
- Environment, culture, other social determinants play big role in heart health
- What kind of diet helps heart health?
Heart Disease
Heart disease includes numerous conditions, and the American Heart Association regularly releases guidelines for how to diagnose, treat and prevent these problems.
- New heart failure guidelines expand focus on people at risk or showing early signs
- New guidelines help doctors diagnose chest pain – but only if you act
- New guidelines call for less use of surgery to treat heart valve disease
- Updated CPR guidelines address physical and emotional recovery
- 911 operators should provide CPR instructions, guidelines say
- New guidelines aim to prevent sudden cardiac death
- Guidelines update: Heart failure prevention possible with new tests
- First fainting guidelines issued to diagnose life-threatening heart conditions
- Better valve, better procedure among new guidelines for heart valve disease
- PAD patients should take statins, blood thinners
- Two new drugs added to heart failure guidelines
- Guidelines revise how long certain heart disease patients should receive a blood-thinning drug combination
- Guidelines first to focus on children with pulmonary hypertension
- New resuscitation guidelines update CPR chest pushes
- Mobile phones should be used to speed help to cardiac arrest victims, guidelines say
- Guidelines call for stronger, more coordinated cardiac arrest response
- New guidelines help doctors assess severity of heart valve disease
- New guidelines update treatment options for atrial fibrillation
- New guidelines aim to improve care for babies with heart problems in the womb
- First set of recommendations in a decade advocate gender-specific approach for women
Stroke
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability for Americans. Guidelines from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association provide the best scientific evidence for how to treat strokes and how to help people at risk.
- Updated guidelines rethink care for people with bleeding stroke
- Quickly finding – and treating – the cause of a stroke may prevent more
- More stroke patients eligible for crucial treatments under new guidelines
- Guidelines urge new approach to treating worst strokes
- Stroke prevention in women: Preeclampsia doubles women’s stroke risk, quadruples later high blood pressure risk
- Secondary stroke prevention: Prevent another stroke by keeping blood pressure and lifestyle in check
Additional Resources
- What is a medical guideline, and how is it created?
- Questions about cholesterol? Here are some answers.
- Coronary calcium test could help clarify heart disease risk – and control cholesterol
- Ethnicity a 'risk-enhancing' factor under new cholesterol guidelines
- Cardiovascular risk calculator from American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association
- Study raises questions about risk calculations for heart disease, stroke
- Infographic: What the prevention guidelines mean to you
- Cholesterol guidelines: myth vs. truth
- African-Americans can receive individualized snapshot of risk
- Answers to common questions about the new prevention guidelines
- Doctors’ advice on the prevention guidelines
- About 12.8 million more adults eligible for discussions with their physicians to determine if statins are appropriate treatment
Scientific Statements
The American Heart Association publishes scientific statements explaining research on heart disease and stroke.
- People born with heart defects need lifetime mental health care, report says
- Falls can be a serious, poorly understood threat to people with heart disease
- Fatty liver disease not caused by alcohol is common – and often missed
- Heart complications uncommon, treatable in children with COVID-19
- Pre-existing disabilities, dementia can interfere with stroke diagnosis and treatment
- CPR 'heroes' need more support, report says
- What parents can do when kids with congenital heart defects grow up
- Marijuana's effects on the brain need more research
- Most U.S. adults with diabetes aren't managing the risks for heart disease
- High blood pressure treatment in pregnancy is safe and could reduce mother's risks
- Major life events could mean less physical activity – leading to poorer heart health
- How doctors can help their patients make heart-healthy lifestyle changes
- 'Balance' is the key word in new dietary guidance for heart health
- A guide for what doctors and parents can do as Kawasaki disease kids grow up
- Weight-loss meds, surgery could fight obesity-related high blood pressure
- Travel to high altitudes could be dangerous for people with heart conditions
- Genetic testing in children for heart disorders should be family-centered, include counseling
- Kids who snore could be at risk for blood pressure, heart problems
- Genetic research should start including racial, ethnic and Indigenous groups
- Discrimination against transgender, gender diverse people adds to heart troubles
- Experts urge treatment for sleep apnea, as it can worsen heart problems
- Doctors should 'prescribe' exercise for adults with slightly high blood pressure, cholesterol
- People with slightly high blood pressure may need medication
- Too much belly fat, even for people with a healthy BMI, raises heart risks
- Some cancer survivors could have increased risk for heart problems after hormone therapy
- Primary care doctors can help preserve brain health
- Opioid-induced cardiac arrests are focus of new report
- The head is connected to the heart – and can influence health
- Report on latest menopause science looks at heart risks
- Heart health report aims to bolster research, boost care for LGBTQ patients
- Be aware of how drugs can affect heart rhythms, report says
- Diet checkup tool, counseling can help heart health
- Marijuana may hurt heart, more research needed, report finds
- Genetic testing a tool for families dealing with certain heart diseases
- Annual aerobic fitness testing could help improve kids' health
- Unhealthy housing can lead to an unhealthy heart
- Heart disease, diabetes rates higher for American Indians, Alaska Natives
- Pregnant women with heart disease need specialized care
- Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to heart-healthy exercise
- A guide to a custom-tailored era of heart failure treatment
- Diabetes and heart failure are linked; treatment should be too
- As HIV patients live longer, heart disease might be their next challenge
- Report seeks answers about mysterious, dangerous heart disease in kids
- Experts urge expansion of home-based cardiac rehabilitation
- How can therapy for heart attack patients help cancer survivors?
- Safety of statins emphasized in new report
- New report explores genetics of congenital heart disease
- Limit screen time among kids, experts caution
- South Asians’ high risk of cardiovascular disease has been hidden by a lack of data
- New guidance issued for treating cardiac arrest in children with heart disease
- A call for deeper understanding of AFib, a growing and dangerous heart rhythm disorder
- Avoiding heart disease should be considered during breast cancer treatments
- Distressing experiences as a kid impact cardiovascular health later in life
- New report raises concerns about the cardiovascular health of African-Americans
- Looking beyond the heart in adults with congenital heart disease
- Self-care: What is it and how do you do it?
- Experts aim to improve treatment for heart complications in people with neuromuscular disorders
Find the latest news about heart and brain health on American Heart Association News.