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Complementary medicine use in cardiovascular disease: a clinician’s viewpoint

Hosen Kiat, Yu Sun Bin, Suzanne Grant and Dennis Hsu-Tung Chang
Med J Aust 2011; 195 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/mja10.10976
Published online: 12 December 2011

Patients with cardiovascular disease may be especially prone to the adverse effects of complementary medicines

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Australia.1 Given the chronic nature of CVD, medical management is the most common mode of care, and medications are prescribed to most patients with CVD.2 In general practice, treatment of CVD accounts for almost one in five encounters, with hypertension the most commonly treated risk factor, followed by lipid disorders.2


  • 1 Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW.
  • 2 Cardiac Health Institute, Sydney, NSW.
  • 3 Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW.


Correspondence: hosen.kiat@chi.org.au

Acknowledgements: 

We thank Lisa Wallis for assistance in manuscript preparation.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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