ADVANCEMENTS MAKING HEART DISEASE
MORE TREATABLE THAN EVER BEFORE
~ New treatments
get patients out of the hospital and back on their feet
~
November 2009
Abbott Park, Illinois - Heart
disease is the number-one cause of death throughout
the US, with more than 60 million Americans having some
form of cardiovascular disease. In America, heart disease
claims one life every 34 seconds, which is twice as
many deaths as from cancer, and more than cancer, diabetes,
chronic liver disease, suicide, homicide and HIV, combined.
Fortunately, there have been
great innovations in heart care to help those suffering
from heart disease, including drug-eluting stents -
tiny mesh tubes that prop open clogged arteries that
are coated with drugs to prevent re-clogging. Before
stents, most patients underwent open-heart surgery to
clear a blocked artery, but now they can be treated
by a minimally invasive procedure that allows them to
feel better and breathe easier, without the risks associated
with surgery.
What Americans should be aware
of about heart disease include: heart disease risk factors
and lifestyle modification; advancements in heart care;
personal involvement in evaluating the safety and efficacy
of stents to improve patient care; safety concerns related
to first-generation products that actually caused a
decline in stenting procedures a few years ago; and
how, new technologies have been developed and made available
to patients that actually show markedly improved patient
outcomes.
###
|
|
