Fatty material builds up in coronary arteries → arteries narrow → blood flow is restricted → lack of oxygen to heart muscle → heart attacks
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Statins
Drugs that reduce blood cholesterol levels, slowing down the rate of fatty deposits forming.
- Reduces risk of strokes, coronary heart disease, heart attacks
- Increases the HDL cholesterol → helps remove LDL cholesterol from the blood
- Long-term drug + must be taken regularly → risk of forgetting to take them
- They can have negative side effects
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Stents
insert stent to open artery → blood can pass through to the heart muscles, keeping the heart beating and the person alive
- Effective for a long time
- Quick recovery time from the surgery
- Risk of infection from the surgery
- Risk of developing blood clots near the stent
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Valves
Leaky valves allow the backflow of blood —>oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mixes —> less oxygen reaches the body
Valves that don’t open fully obstruct blood flow —> greater force required to force blood through the body —> adds strain onto the heart
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Mechanical valves
- More durable and less likely to need replacing
- Higher survival rate at 5 years
- little wait time
- Has to take anti-clotting medication for the rest of their lives
- Can lead to blood clots if medication not taken correctly
- some patients hear the valves opening and closing
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Biological valve
- no additional medication required
- little wait time
- ethical issues surrounding use of animal tissue
- more likely to need another new valve
- more likely to be rejected and need immuno-suppressant medication
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- Less likely to be rejected (made from metals and plastics)
- Surgery can lead to bleeding and infection
- They don’t work as well as natural ones - the electrical motor could fail
- They have to take drugs to thin the blood which can cause excessive bleeding in accidents