Peter Sleight obituary

Cardiologist whose large-scale trials of emergency treatment for heart attack patients changed clinical practiceUntil the late 1980s, doctors had little to offer patients who had suffered from heart attacks. Half of them died within two hours. The remainder faced the risk of heart failure, further heart attacks and strokes, with similarly bleak outlooks. Combining scientific curiosity, intellectual rigour and clinical experience, Peter Sleight teamed up with statisticians and epidemiologists to conduct large-scale trials showing that speedy treatment with aspirin and other readily available drugs could significantly cut this toll of death and disease. Millions of patients worldwide have since gained years of healthy life thanks to those studies.Sleight, who has died aged 91, brought to these international collaborations his clinical credibility as Field-Marshal Alexander professor of cardiology at Oxford University (1973-94) and his openness to learning from the expertise of others.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Heart disease Medical research People in science US news Source Type: news