CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE
The Advantages
Discussion of Pros and Cons (Social)
The Limitations
An advantage of CSWT is that CSWT can significantly improve the function of the heart and reduce angina. Angina symptoms would be reduced if CSWT has been done. [16]
Another advantage to CSWT is that it is a non invasive treatment, so there is no need for any surgery*, anesthesia* or catheter intervention*. Because of this, it can be repeated multiple times without any major surgical procedures. [23]
The limitations of CSWT are that this type of wave treatment is quite new, and is still considered an experimental therapy. This means that it hasn't been around long enough to see any long term effects (good or bad) on patients. [16]
Another limitation is that people who have pulmonary disease, breast prosthetics and/or are overweight cannot receive this treatment. This is because these people don't have an adequate echocardiographic* window. [16]
Another limitation is that since this is new, it could be possible that the sudden reduction of symptoms may be the results of the placebo* effect. [16]
Advantages: CSWT is meant to try avoid surgery. Simply, the basic goal of CSWT is to improve the quality of life for people with CAD.This non invasive therapy has no need for any intruding surgery, which also means that there is no need for any anesthesia. This helps the patients with their social lives because they can do regular everyday things with their friends and family. They can still hang out with their friends and family because they don’t have to stay in a hospital recovering from a surgery. They just get the CSWT therapy and can leave straight away without any pain. They can leave and do regular things, like play sports (which is recommended anyway) without being stopped by angina.
Disadvantages: Socially, the CSWT therapy isn’t that good because even though the patients can do regular things, they have to do the therapy multiple times, meaning booking times in their calendars, which means that they could miss an event (like a birthday party, a meeting, etc.) The patients will have to do the therapy multiple times because once the fat plaque is broken off, there is a very high chance that it will build up again. This could be because of unhealthy eating, smoking, not exercising, or if they are overweight. Also, since they have to do the therapy multiple times, it means that they will also have to pay money for it. The price for CSWT therapy isn’t the same for every country but the costs are pretty high in hospitals. [13] This means that the patients won’t be able to pay for everyday things. This is more of an economical factor, but it eventually leads into the social factor.
*Don't understand the vocabulary? Check out the Glossary page.