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Protecting Your Heart
Get With the Guidelines!New hospital program motivates more people to make heart-healthy changes ‘Get With the Guidelines’ includes…
Lick was one of the first local patients in an American Heart Association program called Get With the Guidelines. The program is expected to save 80,000 lives a year by getting more people to stick to their medications and lifestyle changes after they leave the hospital. “Studies have shown that if you’re started on medication and preventive strategies while still in the hospital, you’re more likely to make these changes permanent,” Pytlewski says. “That’s important, because people who survive a heart attack or other heart problem have a higher risk for another heart attack or stroke.” “Get With the Guidelines builds in a system so each cardiologist, family doctor and internist who cares for patients in the hospital makes sure these steps are taken,” says John Fitzgibbons, M.D., chair of medicine at Lehigh Valley Hospital. The in-hospital initiation made a difference for Lick (in photo), who now walks regularly and carries his golf clubs rather than using a cart. “Surviving a heart attack is overwhelming,” he says. “There’s no doubt that starting me on these medications and healthier habits before I left the hospital made me realize they were important changes to make.” This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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