Heart Medications
The development of these medications have helped dramatically decrease death rates from cardiovascular disease in the United States and other developed countries.
Heart Medications Articles
Doctors may prescribe medications in hopes of helping a patient, but statistics show that at least half of all patients do not follow through with the treatment. Dr. Robert Schmerling explains why some people are choosing to skip taking medications and the possible results of not taking them.
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PCKS9 inhibitors lower cholesterol and don’t have the same types of side effects as statins. However, there is no evidence that they decrease heart attacks and strokes the way statins do. PCSK9 inhibitors come with a very high price tag (about $15,000 per year). Some insurance companies, including Medicare, pay for the drug when treatment with statins is either inadequate or causes adverse effects. But it takes time to prove that a statin isn’t effective for an individual.
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The FDA has withdrawn its approval for two older cholesterol-lowering medications, niacin and fenofibrate, for use in combination with a statin. Several large clinical trials found no heart-related benefits from the drugs.
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More than one in six ischemic strokes can be traced to an abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation (afib). Blood-thinning drugs are typically used to prevent clot formation, but these carry risks of their own. Doctors now have newer and better drug and device options to help lessen afib stroke risk for more people.
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Statins seem to have long-lasting heart benefits. Men who took a statin for five years during middle age had lower rates of heart attack and hospitalization for heart failure 20 years later compared with men who didn’t take the drugs.
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Lightheadedness is a feeling of wooziness or faintness. It is commonly caused by dehydration, drug side effects, blood pressure drops, low blood sugar, heart disease, or stroke. It may help to have a drink of water or orange juice and then lie down. If symptoms are brief, one should report them to a doctor, because lightheadedness may recur due to an undiagnosed underlying problem. Symptoms that last more than 15 minutes call for emergency medical help. Lightheadedness is not the same as dizziness, which refers to feeling like the surroundings are spinning.
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A mail-order genetic test claims it can identify people at risk of developing muscle pain from taking a cholesterol-lowering statin. Using genetic material from a saliva sample, the test looks for gene variants that affect how statins are transported into the liver. About 25% of people have one of two copies of this variant. But the results apply only to a rare form of statin-induced muscle pain that affects about one in 1,000 people.
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Age can be the deciding factor in the decision to take a cholesterol-lowering drug. Many women over 65 and most over 70 may benefit from using a statin.
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The FDA has approved idarucizumab (Praxbind), which may be able to reverse the effects of dabigatran (Pradaxa), a newer type of blood thinner that's had a rare side effect of uncontrolled bleeding during surgery or accidents.
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I'm helping my mother, who is in her late 80s, keep track of her medications, as she can be a little forgetful. Her doctor just started her on warfarin, which I've heard can interact with many different medications. What are the most common ones?
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