Matters of the Heart
Understand, prevent, treat. These are the key words of this guide, which aims to help you learn about the heart, understand the risk factors, navigate prevention and grasp how diagnosis and treatment are changing. Below, therefore, are the main questions that many people have asked themselves at least once, either because they are directly facing a problem themselves or because a friend or family member is showing a possible sign or symptom of a cardiovascular condition. Here are some examples of these questions: how much do genetics, gender and age play a part in determining cardiovascular health? Which symptoms warrant attention and which, on the other hand, should not cause unnecessary concern? Which check-ups are genuinely useful at different stages of life? And furthermore: how does treatment vary according to each patient’s individual characteristics? How are the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of cardiovascular diseases changing? And finally, how much can smartwatches, sensors and telemedicine really help us? These questions and many others – twenty-four in total – are addressed by the guidelines developed with the invaluable collaboration of the National Association of Hospital Cardiologists and the Italian Society of Cardiology. These are authoritative sources that can help the vast number of people suffering from one of the various cardiovascular diseases – responsible for 44 per cent of deaths in Italia – to recognise any symptoms, not to underestimate them, and to understand how they should be treated, for example, specialist medical care, which is now able to provide increasingly effective solutions. However, what consistently emerges from the experts’ advice is just how crucial prevention has become. This is no longer limited to the traditional approach of healthy lifestyles, a balanced diet and physical activity, but also encompasses increasingly targeted, personalised prevention, tailored to each patient based on their individual cardiovascular risk profile.