CHICAGO:
People who see images of their badly
clogged arteries are more likely to lose weight and take anti-cholesterol drugs
than people who don't see severe disease on a computerized scan, researchers
said Saturday.
Two
studies presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in
Chicago showed that having a look at the real-time effect of one's own
lifestyle habits was a major motivator for change.
The
findings are important because convincing people to regularly take
cholesterol-lowering drugs is a key hurdle in medicine and many patients are
reluctant to make the changes needed until it is too late.
"Seeing
a coronary artery calcium scan gives patients a visual picture of how severe
their disease is, and this picture seems to have a really big impact,"
said Nove Kalia, one of the lead investigators for both studies.
The
most striking results were seen among patients with the most severe disease, or
whose inner arteries had grown clogged due to such factors as overeating,
smoking, high blood pressure or diabetes.
Patients
undergoing coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring with cardiac computed
tomography, or a CT scan that shows images of the heart, were shown images of
their arteries.
Those
with the worst arteries, or whose CAC topped 400 or more, were 2.5 times more
likely to take statins as directed and more than three times more likely to
have lost weight, according to a follow up questionnaire, compared to those
whose scans showed little evidence of disease.
The
statin study followed 2,100 patients and the weight loss study tracked a total
of 518.
Neither
study was able to show whether the scans caused enough of a behavioral change
to ward off future heart attacks or stroke.
"With
increasing use of noninvasive imaging, it seems we already have a powerful tool
in helping to motivate patients," said Kalia in a statement.
"I
think we may find this can also help improve outcomes."
-
AFP/cc
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