Heart

[ABHISHARMA]

My father is 60 years old and had a heart attack last week. When diagnosed he had 80% blockage in one artery and a minor block in other artery. His Coloestrol, sugar and BP is perfect. Doc though is suggesting a bypass, can anybody suggest that is it the last remedy or we can have some scope through medicines?

[caregiver222]

I might also add that restriction of the coronary blood aupply is almost always by cholesterol deposits, a fact that may be unrelated to the level of cholesterol in the blood. Such deposits are often there to encapsulate bacteria, or due to a lack of a genetic componant to deal with cholesterol, and may occur even though cholesterol levels are within normal limits.

[caregiver222]

The good news is that bypass operations have become routine, and if the procedure is performed at a facility that does lots of them, mortality is very low, and recovery generally rapid. The extent to which he regains the ability to function normall depends upon the extent of the infarct (or area of necrotic tissue). All so-called "heart attacks" are not the same. There is evidence that there may be alternative treatments, but I tend to agree with Londres70 that an operation is appropriate.  Go to "Pubmed", the NIH database and search "infarct" or "arterial blockage" and "treatments".

[Londres70]

If this is his coronary artery then his ONLY option is a CABG/bypass.  

Unusual that his cholesterol would be "perfect."