Are you at risk for heart problems during and after cancer treatment?
This depends on how healthy your heart is and the specific drugs you’ll be receiving.
Some drugs may have a higher risk of heart problems in people who already have heart problems. Sometimes the risk is higher if people take a higher dose of the drug.
In a study from MedUni Vienna, scientists suggest that heart disease prevention is particularly important for people with cancer.
Cardio-oncology is the name given to the comparatively new field of research into the connections between cardiovascular diseases and cancer, the two most common causes of death in industrialized Western countries.
As the prognosis for cancer patients improves, the phenomenon of cardiotoxicity is becoming increasingly significant.
This is damage to patients’ hearts caused or exacerbated by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.
Scientists now know that cardiotoxicity can lead to high blood pressure, valve disease, premature coronary artery calcification, heart failure, and coronary syndromes such as myocardial infarction or arrhythmia.
In 2018, the cardiologist launched a special outpatient clinic for cardio-oncology at MedUni Vienna and committed to drawing the attention of both doctors and patients to this specialty, which is gaining prominence in the medical world due to the growing number of cancer survivors.
Cardio-oncology research shows that it is not only cancer drugs that can impair cardiac function but also substances produced by tumors.
Conversely, chronic heart failure causes a chronic systemic inflammatory state, which can promote cancer development.
Therefore, the prevention and management of the cardiovascular disease are important at all times, especially after a cancer diagnosis and before, during, and after cancer therapy.
Under no circumstances must the measures are taken in any way to delay or impede vital cancer treatment.
An international working group including Jutta Bergler-Klein recently drew up the first ever clear guidelines for cardiovascular primary and secondary prevention as well as treatment in cancer patients in the context of cardio-oncology guidelines.
However, cancer patients themselves can also help to protect their cardiovascular system.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and calcium supplements could harm your heart health.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies that magnets in common popular devices could harm your heart health, and results showing Vitamin K2 could help reduce heart disease risk.
The study was conducted by Jutta Bergler-Klein et al and published in the European Heart Journal.
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