WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many heart patients who suffer from severe but stable conditions and frequently undergo medical intervention to open clogged and narrowed arteries will reach the same result by taking medications and changing their lifestyle, US researchers reported on Monday.
The researchers said on Saturday that their proposals, if adopted in medical practices, could save hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually on health care for heart patients.
The government-sponsored study, costing about $ 100 million, was presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Philadelphia in the largest study of its kind looking at whether there is an added benefit of measures to restore normal blood flow in stable heart patients for more conservative treatment. Such as taking aspirin, medications that lower blood cholesterol and other procedures.
At least two previous studies have concluded that arterial dilatation, stent placement and the opening of an alternative bloodstream, as well as medical treatment, do not significantly reduce the risk of heart attack or death compared to non-surgical treatment.
Experts say many cardiovascular doctors are reluctant to change this approach, partly because patients who get stent arteries feel an immediate improvement.
Narrowing of the artery;
According to Dr. Judith Hutchman, a cardiologist at the Langon Center at New York University, who led the study, about 500,000 people are diagnosed each year with a stable condition of coronary artery disease caused by narrowing the artery in the chest pain, especially after exercise or emotional stress.
"There is always a fear that if you don't do something quickly, they will have a heart attack and die."
But the seven-year study, involving 5,179 patients, did not show much benefit for rapid surgical interventions.
But treatments have already led to an improvement in symptoms and the quality of daily life for those who have frequent chest pain.
During the study, everyone received lifestyle medications and counseling, with about half of the participants taking interventions.
At the beginning of the study period, the intervention-treated group actually experienced more heart-related problems than the drug-only group, but that changed in the fourth year, and in the end there were no significant differences between the two groups.
But Hutchman said the findings do not apply to all heart patients. "If someone has a heart attack, the stents are life-saving," she said.