Are heart disease medications under-prescribed?
The medications that we have available to prevent heart disease now, are really seriously under used. So, there's no question that we also under use advise about our life style. We don't spend enough time with patients explaining to them what a healthy life style should be. In terms of diet, and physical activity. Once we've explained those things and they've tried those, it's very important that we not let it rest there. That we use the medications that we have to control these risk factors. Leaving blood pressure uncontrolled which happens in a great majority of people in this country. Many people who have high blood pressure, don't even know they have it. Even if they know they have it and they're on treatment for it, they're often not treated to go. Their blood pressure really isn't brought down into the non-hypertensive range. That's a pitty because we can now effectively control high blood pressure in nearly every one with out side effects and greatly reduce their risk. Same thing is true for cholestoral. So we need to do a better job having physicians make the diagnosis of a risk factor, and then really treat it to goal. We need patients to know their numbers, and to want them to be treated to goal.
