Heart Attack Patients: Take Your Meds!

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Canadian researchers have a message for people who have suffered a heart attack: If you want to live longer, take your medications as your doctor has prescribed.

In a new study based on a large population of heart attack survivors in Canada, researchers report people who stuck with proven medications, like statins and beta-blockers, were significantly less likely to die during the two years of the study.

Scientists divided patients in the study into three groups: those who had a low adherence to their medications; those who had intermediate adherence; and those who had high adherence. After adjusting for other factors, researchers report those who were the worst at keeping up with prescribed statins were 25-percent more likely to die than those who were the best at taking their medicine. Those in the middle of the pack were about 12-percent more likely to die during the study period.

Similar, although less dramatic, results were seen for beta-blockers, report the researchers.

"Our study has important clinical and policy implications," write the authors. They call on researchers to include adherence data in their medication studies, noting it makes a big difference in the outcomes. Secondly, they urge the medical establishment to come up with better ways to ensure patients take needed medications as prescribed, suggesting efforts "may be enhanced through the implementation of pharmacy or other preventive care programs."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;297:177-186