Did You Take Your Pills Today?

[Edit]

You’d think that if you suffered a heart attack you would absolutely not miss a day of medicine. But many people don’t stick to their drug regimen, and a new study shows what happens if you don’t take two of the most important heart attack patient medicines. At the age of 47, Miriam Berrios had a heart attack a year and a half ago. She had a stent placed to open up the blocked artery, and was put on a diet…and medicine. “They were very clear about the medications, how to take them, when to take them, how important it was to take them, and when to go back for my follow up appointment,” says Miriam. But unfortunately, many patients who have survived a heart attack are not like Miriam. The latest research looked at medication compliance--taking one’s prescriptions--after a heart attack, and found it is far from perfect when it comes to two key groups of medicines: the cholesterol lowering statins, and the heart rhythm and blood pressure medicines called beta-blockers. “They are very important, both of them reduce the risk of death and further cardiovascular events by about twenty-five percent,” says Dr. Michael Farkouh of Mt. Sinai Heart.

This new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found only 77 percent of patients filled a beta-blocker prescription within three months of discharge from the hospital, and only 57 percent barely more than half…got their cholesterol medicine. And even when they got it, many didn’t take it.

The authors cite prescription cost and potential side effects as obstacles. “Some are in denial, they feel like they are well, that they have gotten over this heart attack, that they have gotten a stent placed and now they can go on with their life and not have to adhere to their medication,” adds Dr. Farkouh. But it’s hardly true. Forgetting to simply take your daily pills turns out to have deadly consequences.

The researchers found the risk of dying after surviving a heart attack increased the more noncompliant patients were with taking these medicines. “Part of the therapy is not just thirty to sixty minutes at the time of the heart attack it really is the rest of your life and I think this study is extremely important for this reason,” says Dr. Farkouh. Miriam gets it: take your medicine if you don’t want to die.

“As far as forgetting my pills, I do not forget my pills, I make it my business not to forget my pills, I leave my cabinets open so that I could see them,” says Miriam. There is also an issue of doctors not prescribing the medicine in the first place, or following up with the patient to make sure the patient is still on the medicine. Many of these patients take the statins and beta blockers in the first year after discharge, but then stop them.

Disclaimer

Featured Doctors

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Newburgh, NY

Arlen Fleisher

Premier Vein Centers of Westchester
280 N. Central Ave, ste 70
Hartsdale, NY 10530

Call: 888-265-9597

Doctor Arlen Fleisher

Arlen Fleisher

Premier Vein Centers of Westchester
280 N. Central Ave, ste 70
Hartsdale, NY 10530

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Chester, NY

Arlen Fleisher

Premier Vein Centers of Westchester
280 N. Central Ave, ste 70
Hartsdale, NY 10530

Did You Take Your Pills Today?

Related Stories

Featured Doctors

Varicose Vein Surgery Bronx

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Montgomery, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Scotchtown, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Woodbury, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Call: 914-472-1900

Laser Vein Treatment Monroe, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Warwick, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment New Paltz, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Doctor Fleisher, Arlen

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Middletown, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Newburgh, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Doctor Arlen Fleisher

Call: 888-265-9597

Laser Vein Treatment Chester, NY

Call: 888-265-9597

Specialities