We’re on the brink of a technological paradigm shift, the so-called fourth revolution of industrial development, that will fundamentally change how we detect and treat heart disease. Advances in artificial intelligence and Big Data, wearable and implantable devices, and the creation of organic replacement heart tissue through 3-D bioprinting and stem cell therapy will fuse seamlessly together to make the deadly specter of silent heart disease and coronary heart disease largely a thing of the past. These advances will not only prevent, or significantly delay the onset, of heart disease but, for the first time, allow for existing cardiac damage to be reversed.
In the meantime, we currently have an array of diagnostic tools, medications, and new surgical techniques that just a few years ago would have seemed futuristic. From CT scans to MRIs, today’s diagnostics make the identification of cardiovascular problems more accurate than ever. The miniaturization of devices (EKGs) to continuously monitor the heart’s electrical activity has revolutionized the evaluation of cardiac health.
If you are diagnosed with silent heart disease or coronary heart disease, today’s medications provide your physician with an arsenal of time-tested drugs like cholesterol-lowering statins to scores of other pharmaceuticals for stopping blood clots, managing high blood pressure, and controlling angina (chest pain). Everyone’s treatment regimen will be different; however, new research indicates that a majority of heart disease patients could benefit from a combination of a statin and, if needed, a drug to treat elevated blood pressure.
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The vast majority of heart disease patients will primarily be treated with a regimen of lifestyle modifications and medications. Should your physician and you decide that surgery is the best treatment option, new techniques and implantable devices available now will significantly improve not only longevity but quality of life as well.