More on Stents vs. Medical Therapy for Angina
Thursday October 23, 2008
Last year, results from the COURAGE trial suggested that for patients with stable angina, aggressive medical therapy was just as effective as angioplasty and stenting at preventing heart attacks and death. The trial created quite a stir within the cardiology community, a community that tends to really like stents.
Cardiologists reluctant to cut back on stenting told themselves - and their patients - that even if the COURAGE trial was correct, there was still a reason to prefer stents over medical therapy, namely, that stenting is likely to be much more effective than medical therapy at relieving angina.
Well, new data from the COURAGE trial has now been published, and it seems to tell us that if stents are indeed better than medical therapy at relieving angina, that benefit is quite transient.
If you are discussing with your doctors the optimal treatment for your stable angina, you would do yourself a favor by becoming familiar with the latest evidence from the COURAGE trial. You can read about it here.
Comments
Hi DrRich, I read your take on the stent therapy vs drug therapy. And it still scares me to death. I have decided to try the whole foods diet and cut red meat and bad carbs. But is this too little too late. I was the one that wrote you the long letter about heart disease and diabeties. I still have really bad angina while sitting and working. It will happen out of the blue and is usually followed by heart flipping and flopping. lol for lack of a bed word. Anyway They put these stents in a year and a half ago, and I think they knew then that it was a waste of time. They said I would need to stay on Plavix, a full asprin therapy for at least 5 years. But from what I have read, after going off Plavix is when you have a heartattack. Am I reading more into this, or are my fears warrented. Thank You Tracy
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