Undertreatment of cardiovascular disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients following a heart attack
Friday, May 27, 2011 - 04:00
in Health & Medicine
Results of a study, involving 98,454 patients demonstrated that at 30 days following their first heart attack, RA patients were approximately 20% less likely to be prescribed standard MI treatments, such as statins and betablockers, compared to healthy patients. These finding remained relatively unchanged at 180 days, further highlighting differences between the two groups, with a high number being prescribed the current standards of care within the 180 day period (statins 80%, betablockers 82%, clopidogrel 70%, aspirin 79%) in general.