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Are you a peripheral artery disease patient? Ask your doctor about heart attack prevention measures

Are you a peripheral artery disease patient? Ask your doctor about heart attack prevention measures

Patients of peripheral artery disease or stroke were less likely to receive recommended treatments to prevent heart attack than those with coronary artery disease. Read on to know more.

Written by Jahnavi Sarma |Updated : May 18, 2020 9:14 PM IST

Heart disease is today one of the leading causes of death around the world. In the United States alone, 1 in every 4 deaths is the direct result of a heart disease. Unfortunately, this is also one of the most preventable condition. Simple lifestyle modifications can give you a healthy heart for life. Now, researchers have found that patients with peripheral artery disease or stroke were less likely to receive recommended treatments to prevent heart attack than those with coronary artery disease. All three are types of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. This is unfortunate indeed, because if this was not the case, then many deaths can be prevented every year.

A new study at Johns Hopkins University in the US, says that there is an urgent need for public health campaigns to direct equal attention to all three major forms of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. This includes coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral artery disease. Researchers say that these diseases should be treated with aggressive secondary preventive medications, including aspirin and statins, regardless of whether people have heart disease or not.

About the study

For the purpose of this study, researchers compared more than 14,000 US adults enrolled in the 2006-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a national survey of patient-reported health outcomes and conditions, and health care use and expenses. Slightly more than half of the patients were men and the average age of the participants was 65. All of them had either coronary artery disease, stroke or peripheral artery disease. On comparison to participants with coronary artery disease, participants with peripheral artery disease were twice as likely to report no statin use and three times more likely to report no aspirin use.

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Researchers also saw that people with peripheral artery disease had the highest, annual, total out-of-pocket expenditures among the three atherosclerotic conditions. This led researchers to conclude that participants with stroke were more than twice as likely to report no statin or aspirin use. Moreover, those with stroke were more likely to report poor patient-provider communication, poor health care satisfaction and more emergency room visits. Researchers state that this study highlights a missed opportunity for implementing life-saving preventive medications among these high-risk individuals.

Expert recommendations

Researchers say that since atherosclerosis can affect arteries in more than one part of the body, treatment for coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral artery disease must include lifestyle changes and as well as medication like statins to lower cholesterol levels. They also say that aspirin must be prescribed to prevent blood clots. They recommend lifestyle changes like eating a healthy diet, being physically active, quitting smoking, controlling high cholesterol, controlling high blood pressure, treating high blood sugar and losing weight.

What you can do to reduce your risk

If you have any of the three conditions, coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral artery disease, you must make certain lifestyle modifications to avoid a heart attack. Go for a low-sodium, low-fat diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables. Exercise regularly and give up smoking. Reducing your alcohol intake will also help. Consult you doctor and have a frank discussion with him or her regarding this. Take all your prescribed medication. This will significantly bring down your risk of a heart attack.

(With inputs from IANS)