Don't let age be a deterrent when consider heart-bypass surgery:

Doctors shouldn't be reluctant to recommend heart bypass surgery for patients in their 80s, according to a British study in the current issue of the journal Heart.

Researchers studied nearly 12,500 heart bypass patients, more than 700 of whom were older than 80 when they had the surgery.

According to the study, most of these octogenarian patients were still Alive five years after the surgery, and were also at half the risk of death compared to their peers in the general population, the study found.

(Preidt, "Heart Bypass Safe, Effective for Patients Over 80", Forbes, Aug.18)