TUESDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) -- Many patients with coronary artery disease and angina become angina-free after undergoing a lifestyle intervention program, according to study findings published in the April 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Joanne Frattaroli, Ph.D., and colleagues from the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif., examined the effect of a lifestyle intervention program involving changes in diet, more moderate exercise and stress management in 282 patients with coronary artery disease and mild angina (108 patients) or limiting angina (174 patients).
By 12 weeks, the researchers found that 74 percent of these patients were free of angina, and an additional 9 percent switched from limiting to mild angina. The improvement in angina was significant and occurred regardless of gender, and the patients who became angina-free had significant improvements in exercise capacity, depression and health-related quality of life.
"In conclusion, the observed improvements in angina in patients making intensive lifestyle changes could drastically reduce their need for revascularization procedures," Frattaroli and colleagues write.
Abstract
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