What are heart disease preventive drugs?

In fact, there is no universal preventive medicine for heart disease that is suitable for everyone. The so-called "preventive medicine" is all tailored according to the individual's risk of disease and basic physical condition. There is no "magic medicine" that can prevent all heart diseases in one consumption.

Not long ago, I met a 52-year-old brother at a community free clinic. He heard from his drinking buddies that taking aspirin can prevent myocardial infarction. Since I didn’t have any underlying disease, I followed the trend for half a year. Finally, I was diagnosed with gastric ulcer and bleeding. In turn, he asked me if I didn’t say it was a good medicine to prevent heart disease. Why did he still have problems with taking it? This is a typical case of not understanding the prerequisites for medication. What we call heart disease prevention is actually divided into two situations. One is for those who have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease or myocardial infarction, or have had a stent or bridge bypassed. This type is secondary prevention, and what is to be prevented is the recurrence of the disease. Drugs such as aspirin, clopidogrel, and statins are indeed taken for a long time as prescribed by the doctor. The benefits far outweigh the possible side effects. For example, statins are like wrapping a strong protective film on the unstable soft plaques on the blood vessel walls, preventing them from easily breaking off. Aspirin helps reduce the cohesion of platelets. Even if the plaques are really broken, they will not easily form thrombus to block the coronary arteries. The combination of these two is a real "relapse prevention drug" for people with confirmed cardiovascular diseases.

But if you haven’t had heart disease yet, but you just have some high-risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, smoking all year round, and a family history of early-onset heart disease, there are different opinions in the academic community about whether you should take medication to prevent it. For example, for primary prevention with aspirin, it is now generally believed that only those with low bleeding risk and heart disease risk should be treated. It is only cost-effective for people whose ten-year risk of developing blood vessels exceeds 10%. If you have stomach problems, are prone to bruises when bumped, and even if you have several high-risk factors, the doctor may not recommend you to take it. After all, the benefits of preventing heart disease have not been seen yet. If you eat it first to prevent gastrointestinal bleeding or cerebral hemorrhage, the gain will outweigh the loss. Some studies also believe that for young and middle-aged people with long-term high LDL cholesterol, even if they have not yet reached the level of coronary heart disease, low-dose statins can stabilize blood vessel plaques earlier. However, for each individual, it still depends on the individual risk-benefit ratio, and there is no unified standard answer.

Many people also regard coenzyme Q10, deep-sea fish oil, and various natto health products as preventive medicines for heart disease. To be honest, these are considered dietary supplements at most. As long as they have a balanced diet and regular work and rest, there is no harm in taking them. However, if they expect to rely on these to replace formal risk control and do not take the antihypertensive and antihyperglycemic drugs that they should take, then it is really picking up sesame seeds and throwing away watermelon. To be honest, for the vast majority of ordinary people with no underlying diseases, the best "preventive medicines" for heart disease are not those sold in pharmacies. They are to eat hot pot and barbecue less often, don't stay up until two or three o'clock to check your mobile phone, quit smoking, and go out for a half-hour walk three or four days a week. I have seen too many young people in their 30s who suffer from myocardial infarction.

If you are really worried about your risk of heart disease, don’t just search for it and buy medicine. Go to a cardiology department for a simple risk assessment and let the doctor judge whether you need to take medicine and what medicine to use. It is more reliable than anything else.