Heart meds really offer protection

AN OBSERVATIONAL study encompassing nearly 15,000 patients traces a link between medications prescribed to prevent heart attacks, such as statins and aspirin, and reduced severity of said attacks when they do occur.

“Cardioprotective medications such as aspirin, statins, and beta-blockers are prescribed to patients who have high risk of a heart attack because they reduce the chance of a first or repeat event,” said the study’s first author Dr Min Li, from China’s Peking University Health Science Centre.

“Until now, it was not known whether these drugs provided any benefit to patients who develop a heart attack despite taking the medication.”

Prior use of relevant medications were “significantly associated with less severity of disease, less arrhythmia, and reduced risk of [major adverse cardiovascular events] during hospitalisation”, according to a release from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

“This suggests that these drugs may reduce the seriousness of ACS events, which lessens the clinical impact,” said Lin.

“Many heart attack patients stop taking their preventive medications. We need to do more to encourage adherence,” said Prof Michel Komajda, course director of the ESC programme. – AFP