50% heart disease patients in Asia fail to stick to medication: survey
BEIJING, September 20. KAZINFORM Fifty percent of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Asia failed to achieve treatment goals mainly because they did not stick to medication, according to the largest Pan-Asian survey CEPHEUS; Kazinform cites China View.
Findings of the survey were released at 2009 Asia-Pacific CV Summit held here Saturday, which brought together medical professionals from the region in the field of CVD treatment.
CEPHEUS, conducted by leading cardiologists in Asia, is to evaluate the current treatment status of hypercholesterolemia (high levels of cholesterol in blood). Elevated cholesterol level is a key risk factor for CVD.
CEPHEUS surveyed over 7,000 patients and doctors in Asia Pacific region. Nearly 44.1 percent of patients said they sometimes forgot to take tablets, and one in four patients thought it is OK to miss medication.
Jeong Euy Park, Professor of Medicine at Sungkyunkwan University, Republic of Korea, and Asian lead investigator for CEPHEUS, said "Patients are not aware that sticking to medication is the best way to treat CVD"; Kazinform refers to China View.
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