Heart Assn.: Prevention should start at 20

(CNN) -- Even if you are 20 years old, your risk of heart disease should start being assessed by a physician, according to new guidelines released Monday by the American Heart Association.

The guidelines reflect a push by experts to prevent heart disease from occurring in the first place, said Dr. Thomas Pearson, chairman of the committee who developed the recommendations.

That is because too often people find out they have heart disease only when it is too late.

"The imperative to prevent the first episode of coronary disease or stroke remains strong because many first-ever heart attack for stroke are fatal or disabling, Pearson said in an AHA press release.

The AHA calls the new guidelines "risk factor screening." It includes having blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference and pulse recorded at least every two years, and cholesterol profile and glucose testing at least every five years beginning at age 20.

EXTRA INFORMATION Prevent heart disease: Here's what you can do

The recommendations don't end there. The researchers also suggest using a technique of combining information from all existing risk factors to determine a person's percentage risk for developing heart disease in the next 10 years of his or her life.

This should be done every five years starting at age 40 or for anyone with two or more risk factors, according to the guidelines.

And having more areas of slight risk can be more dangerous than having one area of very high risk.

Those drafting the guidelines incorporated recommendation from other groups -- such as the American Diabetes Association and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force -- developed over the past five years.

Other notable additions since the guidelines were last released in 1997 include:

Pearson said doctors and patients must work together to make heart disease prevention a success.

"The public should be encouraged to ask their physicians and other health care providers about these important issues in disease prevention," he said in the statement.

Experts urge doctors to ask patients about their lifestyles -- including smoking, diet, alcohol and exercise.