Most of the pts values were normal. Drinking wasn't outrageous, LDL was mild, BMI has fine. He did have HTN though. The biggest risk factors are the fact that he had suffered an MI and started suffering severe depression (weight loss/anxiety). Thus, he is more at risk for suicide.
I think that if they had something like "statin therapy" as an answer choice, we would have an argument for that as it would decrease mortality by helping prevent ANOTHER heart attack. However, I think that anti-depressant therapy will do a LOT to prevent suicide, while omega-3 fatty acids (healthy as they are) wouldn't do AS MUCH to prevent a heart attack.
The question is basically asking, "You can only prescribe one of these to keep this dude alive as long as possible. Which one will have the best chance at accomplishing that?"
Therefore, the answer should be anti-depressant therapy.
Can anyone explain why it's not anxiolytic? My logic was this dude has a bum ticker from previous MI, and his HR was 104/min--which can't be good for the old heart. I went w/a anxiolytic to bring his HR and anxiety under control.
Would an antidepressant do the same, thus, is it a better answer, or cover a wider range of symptoms?
submitted by โdrzed(332)
First sentence of the stem: he has a 6-week history (e.g. >2 weeks) of depression (1), difficulty sleeping (2), fatigue (3), decreased appetite (4), and poor memory/concentration (5)
For a diagnosis of MDD, you need a 2 week history of 5 of the SIGECAPS symptoms which he meets (he is only missing suicidal ideation and interest in activities). Thus he meets the diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode, which means that treatment is indicated with an SSRI.
For the other cardiovascular factors, the only ones proven to improve mortality are statins, ACEi, BB (esp. carvedilol in heart failure), and spironolactone. None of those were answer choices, so MDD treatment was the best choice.