MINNEAPOLIS - Up to 90 percent of first-time heart attacks might be prevented if people were screened in advance and took the proper medications, according to the lead author of a new study at the University of Minnesota.
The researchers, who studied 815 patients at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, found that only about 10 percent were taking "proper preventative treatment" before they suffered their first heart attack. The treatments include drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure and prevent clotting.
"These drugs have all been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack, but it's clear that not enough patients are taking them," Dr. Jay Cohn, a university cardiologist who led the study, said in a prepared statement.
Cohn said that, with screening techniques, doctors can identify which patients are at risk "with considerable precision." He added: "If we could have gotten these individuals on proper medication, I'm confident that the majority of these first-time heart attacks wouldn't have happened."
The researchers found that even some patients with a history of heart attacks were not taking the medications. Of those patients, only about 30-50 percent were taking preventive treatments, they found.
The study was presented Monday at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.
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