Keep up to date with save bc.

This link will take you to the British Columbia Guidelines for screening for cardiovascular risk in people 19 or older who do not have apparent cardiovascular disease. These Guidelines which were developed by local experts, including a number who have been involved in the establishment of SAVE BC, do not apply to you if you have cardiovascular disease. This document is a very helpful guide to people wanting to understand how a doctor might approach screening to determine their cardiovascular risk and managing this risk depending whether such risk for cardiovascular disease is deemed low, moderate or high.

This link will take you to the updated 2016 Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for Lipid Screening. Like the local BC Guidelines also included as a link on this SAVE BC website, the Canadian Guidelines have been developed by experts in this field, including experts who have helped develop the SAVE BC program. The Canadian Guidelines is a tool for healthcare professionals and patients in Canada to understand how best to determine cardiovascular risk and to determine optimal treatment strategies including medical and lifestyle changes (smoking cessation, activity and diet included). These Guidelines also provide detailed targets for treatment which health care professionals strive to attain to lower cardiovascular risk.

This link will take you to a set of Guidelines developed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA). These are different from our Canadian guidelines, but the Guidelines provide a comprehensive approach to assessing and managing cardiovascular risk factors. It applies to people both with and without coronary artery disease. Please note that the units used in the United States for blood measures such as cholesterol and glucose are different units compared with what we use in Canada. In general, for cholesterol, divide the US number by 38 to get our cholesterol number and divide triglyceride by 88 to get our triglyceride number. As a caution, these Guidelines do not mirror the BC Guidelines which are the Guidelines we use in determining and managing cardiac risk.

This link will take you to the Medscape website. If you sign up, you can get access to up-to-date cardiac information provided in a user-friendly summary format. Through this Medscape website, you can also access overviews of key research and clinical trials in real time. Key breaking news from cardiology conferences are often presented on this site and you will find interesting interviews with leading experts in cardiology.

This link will take you to the Healthlinkbc website where you can read about healthy diet choices. While the site does not prescribe specific diets, it does provide an overview of healthy food choices in reducing cardiovascular risk. There is also an excellent option to e-mail a BC Healthlink dietician who can answer your questions on heart healthy diets.

This link will take you to QuitNow, a resource operated by the BC Lung Association and supported by the BC Ministry of Health. It provides resources to help quit smoking, forums for community interaction, and tools to help others quit smoking. It also provides information about obtaining free supplies of nicotine therapy and quit smoking medications to help quit.