Five Questions To Ask The Cardiologist (NAPSA)—Asking your doctor five simple questions could help protect you from the No. 1 health problem in the United States: cardiovasculardisease. Cardiovascular disease causes more than a third of all deaths in America, and coronary artery disease—the most common form of cardiovascular disease—has been diagnosed in 16 million Americans. While there’s plenty of information available to people with car- diovascular disease, the volume of facts, treatment options and infor- mation sources can leave people overwhelmed. That’s where a new program called the Five Questions campaign comes in. It encourages people to clear up any confusion they have about treating cardiovascular disease by asking their doctors five key questions: 1. What are the options for treating cardiovascular disease? Most patients with coronary artery disease receive medication to help treat it. Other treatment options for a blocked artery may include balloon angioplasty and stenting. In this procedure, a small balloon is inserted into the clogged artery and inflated. A stent is then inserted to help keep the artery open andtheblood flowing to your heart, reducing the chance of reblockage in the treated area and reducing the chance you will need another procedure. 2. How do I know if ’ma good candidate for receiving a stent? Talk with your cardiologist and discuss all of your options. Only your doctor knows which option would be the best for you. 3. How are bare-metal and drug-eluting stents different? A drug-eluting stent (DES) is simply a bare-metal stent coated with a special medication to help ~ Drug-eluting stents are coated with medication meant to reduce the chanceof artery blockage. reduce the chance of the artery becoming blocked again. The drug is released from the stent during the period of time when re-blockage is mostlikely to occur. 4, Are there differences between drug-eluting stents? Yes. The available drug-eluting stents have different designs and use different medications. Clinical studies have also been conducted comparing these stents. You should talk to your doctor about these studies and about which option is best for you. 5. What is the most important factor to consider when choosing amongthese treatment options? Before you decide on a treatment, you should discuss all of the options with yourcardiologist. For information to help you feel comfortable discussing these issues with your doctors and other members of your health care team, visit cypherusa.com. This Website includes “Important Questions to Ask Your Doctor” and information to learn more about Cordis Corporation’s campaign, LIFE WIDE OPEN”.
