The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released new guidelines for preventing a heart attack, especially a second heart attack.

Among the new guidelines are:

• Get an annual flu shot. Anyone with heart disease should get vaccinated every fall.
• Exercise five to seven days a week. 30-60 minutes of moderate exercise (can even be brisk walking) should completed 5-7 days a week. This is an increase in the
  recommended amount of exercise.
• Lower your waist size. Men should keep their waist size below 40 inches and women should keep their waist size below 35 inches. Smaller waist sizes than these are preferable.
• Talk to your doctor about a lower aspirin dosage. The recommendation for daily aspirin intake has been lowered to 75-162 milligrams. Talk with you doctor first, before adjusting your dosage.

The full report with all of the new guidelines is available online in at http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/113/19/2363. (A link for a .pdf version is on the upper right-hand side of the page.)