Study proves surgery no better than medicines for heart disease.

A recent study reveals that medical therapy equals surgery for ischemic heart failure. Details of the study trial are in the New England Journal of Medicine. The prevailing thought for more than 20 years study was that patients with a weak heart and blocked arteries benefit more with bypass surgery. This study shows that the dramatic improvements in medical therapy are of equal benefit. The trial had 1212 patients enrolled. Of the 601 who underwent assessment of myocardial viability, 298 were designated to receive medical therapy plus coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) and 303 receive medical therapy alone. 178 of 487 patients with viable mycardium and 58 of 114 patients without viable myocardium. Researchers adjusted for other baseline variables and found that there was no significant association between viability status and method of treatment. Researchers emphasize that the study did not provide definitive answers in heart failure but rather examined ischemic heart disease. The study highlights that surgery is not necessarily “superior” to medical therapy in treatment of the disease.* Non-medicinal methods for cholesterol control include the supplement, resveratrol. Elise Ervin Staff Writer