A snapshot of Italian cardiologists’ heart health shows a less than ideal profile for cardiovascular (CV) risk profiles.
 
How does that translate for American cardiologists? That wasn’t made clear in the study’s results published in the July 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.
 
The study was an attempt to shed light on the CV profile and lifestyle habits of cardiologists – something that is poorly known worldwide, according to the authors.
 
The study does show that Italian cardiologists need education and some heart health intervention, say Pier Luigi Temporelli, M.D., from Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri in Veruno, Italy, and his research colleagues.
 
Researchers took results from 1,770 surveys of cardiologists and found that nearly half had 1 in 5 classic risk factors for CV problems. And 90% of participants had a self-reported risk perception quantified as mild.
 
Overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, and stress at work or at home were also commonly reported, as well as limited use of cardiovascular drugs, such as statins or aspirin, the authors wrote.
 
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