Aspirin and more are needed to cope with acute coronary syndrome
The simple aspirin is a key ingredient in managing acute coronary syndrome.
Aspirin, a blood thinner, is combined with heparin bolus and intravenous (IV) heparin infusion if there are no contraindications to the same. Heparin also is a blood thinner designed to stop clots. In addition, physicians may use antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor or clopidogrel, although no ticagrelor is given to people receiving thrombolysis.
Medical treatment often will include beta-blockers, statin, and ACE inhibitors, which help both your heart and your kidneys. An enzyme called angiotensin-converting enzyme, or ACE for short, can narrow your blood vessels and increase your blood pressure – both undesirable in ACS cases.
The inhibitors offset ACE and help your blood vessels widen, thus reducing blood pressure and improving blood flow to the heart.
“A quarter of the blood pumped out in each heartbeat flows through the kidneys, so if your heart becomes less efficient, your kidneys also suffer. Therefore, ACE inhibitors improve kidney, as well as heart, function,” says an article in the National Institutes of Health library.
ACS is part of cardiac heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States for people older than 35. It kills about 15.5 million Americans per year.
Chest pain is often one of the first symptoms of ACS, especially for men. For women, people with diabetes, and the elderly, the symptoms may be more vague: difficulty breathing, lightheadedness, isolated jaw or left arm pain, nausea, epigastric pain, diaphoresis, and weakness, according to the NIH publication.
Acute coronary syndrome includes ST-elevation, myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and unstable angina.
To learn more about acute coronary syndrome, see www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459157/.
Rego Park Pharmacy offers a wide range of prescription drugs as well as many over-the-counter medications.
