Heart study suggests survival often depends on the will of the patient

• People who stick to their heart failure treatment plan, even if it's just a placebo, are less likely to die of the disease than those who don't, according to a new study.
• Researchers say the results show that a healthy attitude can go a long way toward improving the odds of surviving the difficult-to-treat heart condition, as people who adhere to their treatment plan may also be more likely to adopt other healthy behaviors.
• The study showed people with chronic heart failure who took their pills, whether it was an actual drug or a placebo, as prescribed more than 80% of the time had a 34% lower risk of death than those who rarely took their medication as directed.
• In the study, published in The Lancet, researchers looked at the impact of adhering to a treatment plan in a clinical trial of the heart failure drug Atacand, which compared the effects of the drug vs. placebo in 7,599 people with chronic heart failure.
• The results showed that people who stuck with their treatment plan were 34% less likely to die during the 38-month follow-up period than people who didn't.
• The researchers note that adherence to medication may reflect adherence to other lifestyle and treatment recommendations given for heart failure patients, like stopping smoking or following an exercise regimen.
• In a commentary that accompanies the study, Harvey White of Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand says the study shows that adherence is about more than just taking pills, and poor adherence is common in chronic heart failure.
• White says new ways to improve adherence to both drug treatment plans and healthy lifestyle changes should be developed to help heart failure patients reap the benefits of the recent advances made in the treatment of the condition.