Statins and Aspirin: Basic drugs for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

Statins and Aspirin: Basic drugs for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases! How long to eat? When to stop?

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are chronic diseases. If they can be detected and controlled early, they will not cause disability or cause death; but if they are not detected or treated properly, they may cause disability and death.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, the most common include: coronary heart disease and cerebral infarction, coronary heart disease includes: asymptomatic coronary heart disease, unstable angina, exertional angina, myocardial infarction, cardiac stent surgery, heart bypass surgery.

The basis for the treatment of these diseases is a healthy lifestyle, including: healthy eating, weight control, staying away from tobacco and alcohol, proper exercise, avoiding staying up late and so on. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases cannot be completely cured at present. They have been diagnosed and require medication for life. Therefore, adherence to regular medication is the basis for controlling the development and deterioration of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

If you think of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases as a person, then there are two drugs that are the two legs of this person, and one is indispensable: statin and aspirin!

1. What benefits can statins and aspirin bring to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases?

1) Statins

Statins include simvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin sodium, atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, and pitavastatin. Under normal circumstances, if it is a clear cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, especially for patients who have missed stents, have had myocardial infarction, have clear angina, have passed a bridge, or have cerebral infarction, it is recommended to directly use the third-generation statin, which is atorva. One of statins, rosuvastatin and pitavastatin.

The effect of statins can lower the bad blood lipid of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increase the good blood lipid of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. At the same time, statins can also anti-inflammatory, stabilize plaque and prevent plaque rupture.

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol can aggravate atherosclerosis, increase intravascular plaque, and increase vascular stenosis, which is bad blood lipid; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol can reduce or delay atherosclerosis, control vascular plaque, and control vascular stenosis. Good blood lipids. Statins can just reduce bad blood lipids and increase good blood lipids, so that two-way regulation is beneficial to the prevention and control of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

The inflammatory response of the vascular endothelium will aggravate atherosclerosis. Thrombus will be formed after the plaque in the blood vessel ruptures, which will cause myocardial infarction or cerebral infarction, leading to heart failure, sudden death, hemiplegia, aphasia, concomitant failure, death, etc. . Statins can fight inflammation, stabilize plaques and prevent plaque rupture, thereby effectively controlling the aggravation of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

2) Aspirin

Some people say that statins have so many effects. Isn’t it enough to eat statins?

Any medicine is to reduce the risk, and cannot play a 100% effect. When some people’s blood vessel plaque ruptures, thrombus may form. At this time, aspirin is needed to work, and aspirin has the effect of anti-platelet aggregation.

What does that mean? When the blood vessel plaque ruptures, the body sounds an alarm, telling the body that it is bleeding, stop the bleeding quickly! At this time, platelets will emerge and participate in hemostasis. The blood is stopped, but in the blood vessel, a blood clot is formed after hemostasis. This blood clot is a thrombus, and the blood clot will block the blood vessel. After a blood vessel is blocked, the distal blood vessel will lose blood flow. It is myocardial infarction that occurs in the heart, and cerebral infarction that occurs in the brain. So at this time the plaque ruptures, stopping the bleeding is a kind of bad thing.

In order to prevent thrombosis, anti-platelet aggregation is needed. Aspirin is an anti-platelet aggregation drug to prevent thrombosis and ultimately prevent myocardial and cerebral infarction.

Therefore, statins cannot replace aspirin, nor can aspirin replace statins. These two drugs are the relationship between the left leg and the right leg, and both are indispensable.

2. How long do you take statins and aspirin? Under what circumstances can the drug be stopped?

Many people ask, statin and aspirin have been taken for a few months, or how many years?

Strictly speaking, because cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases cannot be cured, long-term or lifelong medication is required. As long as there are no serious side effects, for people with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, statins and aspirin should be taken all the time. Stop the drug, or take these two drugs for life.

Of course, eating does not mean that no side effects are monitored. Any drug has potential side effects. Therefore, we need to monitor side effects for a long time. Once side effects occur, the drug needs to be stopped or changed.

1) Common side effects of statins:

The most common side effects of statins include: elevated liver function transaminase, elevated creatine kinase, muscle damage, and elevated blood sugar.

Therefore, during the period of taking statins, we must recheck within 1-3 months, 6 months, and then every year: four items of blood lipids, to see if blood lipids meet the standard, especially if the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol drops below 1.8; Check whether the liver function transaminase is elevated. When the transaminase is 3 times higher, the drug needs to be discontinued; to see whether the creatine kinase is higher, and the creatine kinase is higher than 10 times. Gao should be treated in accordance with diabetes.

2) Common side effects of aspirin:

The most common side effect of aspirin is bleeding, especially gastrointestinal bleeding; therefore, during the period of taking aspirin, it is necessary to observe whether the color of stool turns black for a long time. If it turns black, it is necessary to seek medical treatment as soon as possible to rule out gastrointestinal bleeding. Also need to review blood routine regularly to see platelets, hemoglobin and so on.

If aspirin causes bleeding, or other causes of bleeding, you need to stop aspirin.

In short, statins and aspirin are the two legs for the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and neither is indispensable!

(source:internet, reference only)

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