Cardiologists are sometimes accused of giving too much treatment. Low-risk patients are handed armfuls of daily medication, risking side effects, while surgeons insert stents or ‘replumb’ blood vessels at the drop of a hat, despite less-than-clear benefits. Or so say the critics.
But if new research unveiled at the American Heart Association annual conference in Chicago this year is anything to go by, the order of the day is a less-is-more approach that’s focused not just on trying to make