AVOIDING STENTS
WHY DON’T MORE PEOPLE USE MEDICINES INSTEAD OF STENTS FOR BLOCKED HEART ARTERIES? ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
COURAGE is the acronym for a large trial that examined the use of what’s called optimal medical therapy in people with partially blocked arteries to their hearts, to see whether their symptoms improved over time, and demonstrated that in fact, they did. But in spite of this compelling evidence, the most recent study shows that many people still aren’t treated this way. Edward Kasper, chief of clinical cardiology at Johns Hopkins, comments.
KASPER: We’re really dealing with two issues here. The first is patient compliance. Patients don’t like following a low salt diet, patients don’t like to exercise, don’t like doing a lot of these things, don’t like taking a lot of medications frankly, and the second part of it is physicians needing reminders to follow a fairly complex medical regimen that isn’t easy to remember or remember to do. :21
Kasper says that the long term benefits of optimal medical therapy are also very good reasons to choose this option. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.
