When it comes to your heart and vascular system, you can trust the experts at Bryan Medical Center and Bryan Heart. Afterall, we're known for heart and we're here for you.
In this important segment listen as Dr. Chad Travers, a cardiologist with Bryan Heart, discusses what you can do to prevent heart disease, and why, if you are on medications for heart disease or high blood pressure, it is important that you take them as prescribed.
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The Importance of Taking Your Medication Correctly
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Learn more about Dr. Chad Travers
Chad Travers, MD, Bryan Heart
Dr. Chad Travers is a cardiologist with Bryan Heart.Learn more about Dr. Chad Travers
Transcription:
The Importance of Taking Your Medication Correctly
Melanie Cole (Host): Today’s topic is the prevention of heart disease and the importance of taking your medications as prescribed. My guest today, is Dr. Chad Travers. He is a cardiologist with Bryan Heart. Welcome to the show Dr. Travers. So, how prevalent is cardiovascular disease and are the signs and symptoms and even some of the risk factors different for men and women.
Dr. Chad Travers, MD (Guest): Well, first of all, thanks for having me on this morning. It’s a pleasure to be here. It is also a pleasure to talk about this topic which is very important to myself as a preventative cardiologist. First of all, with the prevalence of cardiovascular disease; it still remains the number one killer of Americans, one in four people will die from cardiovascular disease. A person has a heart attack every forty seconds in the United States and one person dies every minute in the United States from heart disease. So, obviously very prevalent and a bit frustrating from my standpoint because this is an area that we can work in prevention and actually prevent a lot of this. So, we still have a lot to do.
Getting back to your question about risk factors and gender differences; certainly, risk factors affect people differently or people are at more risk based on family history and men and women are affected a little bit differently from that standpoint. But as far as symptoms go, men and women are a bit different as well. Not everyone is the same. Not everyone has typical chest pressure that would alert them to the fact that they are having a heart attack and the point of this is to get out and reach people and to let people know that if they are having any symptoms that are concerning to them; that they do seek medical attention.
Melanie: Based on some of the risk factors we have discussed here today Dr. Travers, what can someone do to prevent heart disease?
Dr. Travers: You know in my practice, I take a seven-step approach, that I take and just to go through them real briefly first and foremost one of the things that is most harmful to patients is smoking and so that’s one of the first things that we always talk about is smoking cessation. Next, we talk about exercise, what is recommended by the American Heart is 30 minutes a day most days of the week and so that adds up to about 150 minutes of dedicated moderate activity per person per week. So, that is something that you have to give a conscious effort towards but certainly something that can decrease your risk. I always talk about healthy diets in the clinic and I’m not an expert on dietary nutrition, but there are certain things that we will talk about and spend quite a bit of time on. Maintaining a healthy weight is another key component and then some of the other things that may not be the top of people’s list as far as risk prevention is getting enough sleep and that’s one thing that I do talk to my patients about and stress management. And then finally, what I would recommend is patients talk to their doctors and get regular screening to look for some of these risk factors.
Melanie: So, Dr. Travers, if you are on medication, if you have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease whether it is atherosclerosis or something that increases your risk of heart disease and stroke and you have been put on medication, cholesterol medication, aspirin regimen, blood pressure medication, whatever it is; why is it so important that people adhere to this just as the doctor prescribed because I am sure that you have heard people say they don’t – they are concerned about the side effects. You hear them in the media. And what do you tell them about this importance and those side effects?
Dr. Travers: Yeah, first I would say to that, if your doctor did put you on a medication, there is typically a strong reason behind it and if it is a blood pressure medication; your doctor wants your blood pressure better controlled. If it’s a medication – some of the more high-risk medications that we see in the clinic I will say, blood thinners, very important if someone has atrial fibrillation, maybe they are placed on a blood thinner. This is very important for stroke prevention and stopping these blood thinners or stopping these high blood pressure pills do put you at increased risk of actually having a stroke or a heart attack. So, before stopping medications, I would always recommend that you consult with your physician first and if you are having side effects, please let your office staff know before discontinuing these medications abruptly.
Melanie: Give us some tips for compliance and even especially with the elder population, because sometimes their meds get a little confusing and maybe they are on a bunch of them including some orthopedic type medications. So, Dr. Travers, how do you advise people to keep track of their medications and to take them as prescribed?
Dr. Travers: Yeah, it certainly can be quite confusing especially when a person is on multiple medications as you mentioned. Many of my patients on multiple medications will have a pill box that they set up on a weekly basis. You can put your pills in there for the entire week and that way you know if you have missed a dose or missed a day in there and, so I think that’s very helpful. Now in the age of cellphones too, I think that it is easy to set reminders on your phones, on your mobile device to be able to remind you when to take your medications and you can even put in there what medications to take actually.
Melanie: And that’s a good point because sometimes you have multiple doctors prescribing medications. Maybe you have seen an orthopod and they have got you on arthritis medication and then you have seen your cardiologist who has you on Lipitor and a blood pressure medication. So, how do people keep track of the different doctors and do you all know what somebody else has prescribed?
Dr. Travers: Yeah, it can certainly be confusing for the patient and also confusing for the provider at times especially when a patient is on multiple medications and takes these medications out of the bottle. Many of them look alike and so as soon as they are out of the bottle it is quite confusing and so that’s why I do recommend a strategy as to how the patient will take the medications. Some people will just keep them in the bottles, keep them in the cupboards and that’s one way they know, but to group them together, maybe an okay way as well.
Melanie: There’s a lot of questions around aspirin therapy to prevent heart disease in both men and women. And what do you tell people when they ask you about taking a baby aspirin every day?
Dr. Travers: Absolutely. I think there is a lot of controversy even in the medical community as to who needs an aspirin each day and so, I recommend that you sit down with your doctor and talk about that. I, in my clinic, base it on patient’s age and their risk factors. So, certainly if a person has heart disease or coronary artery disease, they should all be on aspirin therapy. If a person is diabetic, they are likely to be on aspirin therapy as well. Aspirin is not without side effects. The major side effect being bleeding, so if a person does not have many risk factors and is younger in age, they should likely stay away from aspirin therapy. So, the take home point here I think is that each person sit down with their doctor and discuss their individual situation.
Melanie: So, wrap it up for us Dr. Travers, with your best advice about heart disease prevention and the importance of taking your medication as prescribed if your doctor has prescribed something to prevent heart disease.
Dr. Travers: I think the biggest take home point is to know your risk. I think that people should get the screens on a routine basis. You should find out if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol. And you should seek care for these if you do or you are at risk; maybe you have a family history that is strong for coronary artery disease and as far as taking your medications; I would just like to stress that the importance can’t be overstated. These medications all do have side effects and I think when we take them on a haphazard basis, the side effects can rear their heads. When taken I the prescribed way, I think patients will be better cared for and better managed.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. If you are concerned about your heart health, take our free quick and confidential heart aware online screening at www.bryanhealth.org/heartaware . That’s www.bryanhealth.org/heartaware . This is Bryan Health podcast. I’m Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
The Importance of Taking Your Medication Correctly
Melanie Cole (Host): Today’s topic is the prevention of heart disease and the importance of taking your medications as prescribed. My guest today, is Dr. Chad Travers. He is a cardiologist with Bryan Heart. Welcome to the show Dr. Travers. So, how prevalent is cardiovascular disease and are the signs and symptoms and even some of the risk factors different for men and women.
Dr. Chad Travers, MD (Guest): Well, first of all, thanks for having me on this morning. It’s a pleasure to be here. It is also a pleasure to talk about this topic which is very important to myself as a preventative cardiologist. First of all, with the prevalence of cardiovascular disease; it still remains the number one killer of Americans, one in four people will die from cardiovascular disease. A person has a heart attack every forty seconds in the United States and one person dies every minute in the United States from heart disease. So, obviously very prevalent and a bit frustrating from my standpoint because this is an area that we can work in prevention and actually prevent a lot of this. So, we still have a lot to do.
Getting back to your question about risk factors and gender differences; certainly, risk factors affect people differently or people are at more risk based on family history and men and women are affected a little bit differently from that standpoint. But as far as symptoms go, men and women are a bit different as well. Not everyone is the same. Not everyone has typical chest pressure that would alert them to the fact that they are having a heart attack and the point of this is to get out and reach people and to let people know that if they are having any symptoms that are concerning to them; that they do seek medical attention.
Melanie: Based on some of the risk factors we have discussed here today Dr. Travers, what can someone do to prevent heart disease?
Dr. Travers: You know in my practice, I take a seven-step approach, that I take and just to go through them real briefly first and foremost one of the things that is most harmful to patients is smoking and so that’s one of the first things that we always talk about is smoking cessation. Next, we talk about exercise, what is recommended by the American Heart is 30 minutes a day most days of the week and so that adds up to about 150 minutes of dedicated moderate activity per person per week. So, that is something that you have to give a conscious effort towards but certainly something that can decrease your risk. I always talk about healthy diets in the clinic and I’m not an expert on dietary nutrition, but there are certain things that we will talk about and spend quite a bit of time on. Maintaining a healthy weight is another key component and then some of the other things that may not be the top of people’s list as far as risk prevention is getting enough sleep and that’s one thing that I do talk to my patients about and stress management. And then finally, what I would recommend is patients talk to their doctors and get regular screening to look for some of these risk factors.
Melanie: So, Dr. Travers, if you are on medication, if you have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease whether it is atherosclerosis or something that increases your risk of heart disease and stroke and you have been put on medication, cholesterol medication, aspirin regimen, blood pressure medication, whatever it is; why is it so important that people adhere to this just as the doctor prescribed because I am sure that you have heard people say they don’t – they are concerned about the side effects. You hear them in the media. And what do you tell them about this importance and those side effects?
Dr. Travers: Yeah, first I would say to that, if your doctor did put you on a medication, there is typically a strong reason behind it and if it is a blood pressure medication; your doctor wants your blood pressure better controlled. If it’s a medication – some of the more high-risk medications that we see in the clinic I will say, blood thinners, very important if someone has atrial fibrillation, maybe they are placed on a blood thinner. This is very important for stroke prevention and stopping these blood thinners or stopping these high blood pressure pills do put you at increased risk of actually having a stroke or a heart attack. So, before stopping medications, I would always recommend that you consult with your physician first and if you are having side effects, please let your office staff know before discontinuing these medications abruptly.
Melanie: Give us some tips for compliance and even especially with the elder population, because sometimes their meds get a little confusing and maybe they are on a bunch of them including some orthopedic type medications. So, Dr. Travers, how do you advise people to keep track of their medications and to take them as prescribed?
Dr. Travers: Yeah, it certainly can be quite confusing especially when a person is on multiple medications as you mentioned. Many of my patients on multiple medications will have a pill box that they set up on a weekly basis. You can put your pills in there for the entire week and that way you know if you have missed a dose or missed a day in there and, so I think that’s very helpful. Now in the age of cellphones too, I think that it is easy to set reminders on your phones, on your mobile device to be able to remind you when to take your medications and you can even put in there what medications to take actually.
Melanie: And that’s a good point because sometimes you have multiple doctors prescribing medications. Maybe you have seen an orthopod and they have got you on arthritis medication and then you have seen your cardiologist who has you on Lipitor and a blood pressure medication. So, how do people keep track of the different doctors and do you all know what somebody else has prescribed?
Dr. Travers: Yeah, it can certainly be confusing for the patient and also confusing for the provider at times especially when a patient is on multiple medications and takes these medications out of the bottle. Many of them look alike and so as soon as they are out of the bottle it is quite confusing and so that’s why I do recommend a strategy as to how the patient will take the medications. Some people will just keep them in the bottles, keep them in the cupboards and that’s one way they know, but to group them together, maybe an okay way as well.
Melanie: There’s a lot of questions around aspirin therapy to prevent heart disease in both men and women. And what do you tell people when they ask you about taking a baby aspirin every day?
Dr. Travers: Absolutely. I think there is a lot of controversy even in the medical community as to who needs an aspirin each day and so, I recommend that you sit down with your doctor and talk about that. I, in my clinic, base it on patient’s age and their risk factors. So, certainly if a person has heart disease or coronary artery disease, they should all be on aspirin therapy. If a person is diabetic, they are likely to be on aspirin therapy as well. Aspirin is not without side effects. The major side effect being bleeding, so if a person does not have many risk factors and is younger in age, they should likely stay away from aspirin therapy. So, the take home point here I think is that each person sit down with their doctor and discuss their individual situation.
Melanie: So, wrap it up for us Dr. Travers, with your best advice about heart disease prevention and the importance of taking your medication as prescribed if your doctor has prescribed something to prevent heart disease.
Dr. Travers: I think the biggest take home point is to know your risk. I think that people should get the screens on a routine basis. You should find out if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol. And you should seek care for these if you do or you are at risk; maybe you have a family history that is strong for coronary artery disease and as far as taking your medications; I would just like to stress that the importance can’t be overstated. These medications all do have side effects and I think when we take them on a haphazard basis, the side effects can rear their heads. When taken I the prescribed way, I think patients will be better cared for and better managed.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. If you are concerned about your heart health, take our free quick and confidential heart aware online screening at www.bryanhealth.org/heartaware . That’s www.bryanhealth.org/heartaware . This is Bryan Health podcast. I’m Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.