Sydney heart patients fail to change lifestyle

Despite the drama attached to major life-saving surgery more than half of the heart patients from Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, failed to subsequently change their lifestyle.

University of Western Sydney researchers believe that because the common angioplasty surgery appeared to be simple, patients felt their condition was not really serious. The study analysed the lifestyles of over 200 people who had the operation in which a tiny balloon is used to unblock or widen arteries around the heart.

Of these former patients nearly 60% – when interviewed two years after the surgery – still had two risk factors including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or being overweight and physically inactive. Few people were prepared to make key changes to improve their continuing health.

The study leader, Ritin Fernanandez, said it was a “terrible and dangerous misconception” for people to continue old lifestyles after their operation.

“Advanced surgical techniques can only go so far in repairing the damage, but people don’t seem to realise this”. She said it was a complete misunderstanding for patients to believe that the surgery had “cured them” and that no further personal action was necessary to improve personal health levels.