Lets look at the medications we would expect for Johns post-discharge prescription as he requires life long secondary prevention of cardiac events.
| Drug | Purpose | Feedback |
|---|---|---|
| Aspirin | Antiplatelet | Antiplatelets are blood thinners and therefore reduce the risk of clots forming. |
| Clopidogrel | Antiplatelet | Antiplatelets are blood thinners and therefore reduce the risk of clots forming. |
| Bisoprolol | Betablocker | Betablockers lower the heart rate and therefore the amount of work the heart has to do. |
| Ramipril | ACE Inhibitor | ACE Inhibitors reduces blood pressure and thereby the workload of the heart |
| Atorvastatin | Statin | Statins lower the level of cholesterol in the blood |
| GTN Spray | Nitrates | Nitrates are vasodilators which mean they relax the muscles of the blood vessel walls, therefore improving the blood supply and alleviating symptoms of angina |
Pulse point
After discussing cardiac medications within the different modules, you can see that medications often overlap and also that they are sometimes used in different doses and for specific reasons within different stages of cardiovascular disease. John has been prescribed standard secondary prevention medications. You may wish to review Ben’s case in module 3 about medication adherence.
Page last reviewed: 27 Jul 2020
