Cardioprotective Treatments After Heart Attack Increase Lifespan of Patients With Schizophrenia

The increased risk of mortality in patients with schizophrenia can be reduced with cardioprotective medication, such as antiplatelets, β-blockers, and statins, after a heart attack, suggests astudy published inJAMA Psychiatry.Previous studies have found that patients with schizophrenia die 10 to 15 years younger and have worse outcomes from coronary artery disease than those in the general population.“Our study suggests that patients with schizophrenia who are treated with cardioprotective treatment after MI [myocardial infarction] have a lower mortality risk compared with patients who are not treated, similar to those treated in the general population,” wrote Pirathiv Kugathasan, M.D., of A alborg University in Denmark and colleagues. “Cardioprotective medication after myocardial infarction should be carefully managed to improve prognosis.”The researchers studied all adults aged 30 and older who were treated in Denmark public hospitals with first-time myocardial infarction (MI) during a 20-year period, involving 105,018 individuals, including 684 patients with a prior diagnosis of schizophrenia. The researchers followed patients up to 20 years and collected data on prescriptions received and defined five cardioprotective therapeutic drug groups: antiplatelets, vitamin K antagonists, β-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and statins. The researchers noted use of monotherapy (treatment with one these medication groups), dual therapy (use of two), and ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: antiplatelets Benjamin Druss Denmark heart attack JAMA Psychiatry Pirathiv Kugathasan schizophrenia statins β-blockers Source Type: research