Expert Conversations: The New Guideline for Preventing CVD

In this podcast, Donna Arnett, PhD, MSPH, and Roger Blumenthal, MD, who were co-chairs of the writing committee for the “2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease,” answer our questions about the updated guideline and why aspirin is no longer recommended.

Additional Resources:

• Arnett DK, Blumenthal RS, Albert MA, et al. 2019 ACC/AHA guideline on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2019;140:e596-e646. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678.
• ASCEND Study Collaborative Group. Effects of aspirin for primary prevention in persons with diabetes mellitus. N Engl J Med. 2018;379:1529-1539. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1804988. 
• Gaziano JM, Brotons C, Coppolecchia R, et al; ARRIVE Executive Committee. Use of aspirin to reduce risk of initial vascular events in patients at moderate risk of cardiovascular disease (ARRIVE): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet. 2018;392(10152):1036-1046. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31924-X. 
• McNeill JJ, Wolfe R, Woods RL, et al; ASPREE Investigator Group. Effect of aspirin on cardiovascular events and bleeding in the healthy elderly. N Engl J Med. 2018;379(16):1509-1518. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1805819. 

Donna Arnett, PhD, MSPH, is a professor of epidemiology and is the dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky and is the past president of the American Heart Association.

Roger Blumenthal, MD, is a professor medicine, cardiology, at Johns Hopkins University and is director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.