Better survival among heart failure patients who take medication

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

People with heart failure who stick with medication are also more likely to adopt a healthy lifestyle and benefit from higher survival rates.
Around 10 million Europeans have heart failure and the condition accounts for over a million hospital admissions in the USA. Those with heart failure can do much to help themselves live with this chronic condition, however. They can pursue healthy behaviors and stick to their medication schedule. Not all do, of course. Maybe they will be persuaded by the results of a new study.

A team at Duke University compared the effects of the drug candesartan with placebo in nearly 7,600 patients with heart failure. Patients were followed up for three years and classified as good or bad adherers, according to how long they took more or less than 80 per cent of their study medication.

Good adherence was linked to lower all-cause mortality in all patients, even if they were on placebo. These patients were also more likely to have healthier behaviors. The researchers believe adherence to medication is a marker for a commitment to following treatment and advice which is likely, in itself, to improve outcome.

Source
The Lancet 10th December 2005