Cardiologist in training Tjerk Opstal has won the Pieter van Foreest Prize. De Alkmaarder won the science prize with a way to prevent another heart attack.
Opstal’s research shows that the age-old medicine colchicine works well to stop a heart attack. Patients with the drug have a thirty percent less chance of developing a new heart attack. Opstal: “One of the risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease is vascular calcification. With this drug, that calcification slows down or is even stopped.”
Colchicine is currently being used for the treatment of gout, among other things. A study has already shown that colchicine prevents damage to the heart immediately after a heart attack. Opstal’s research has shown that the drug also works in patients who have been symptom-free for many years.
The Pieter van Foreest Prize is awarded annually for the best scientific publication involving patients from the Northwest Hospital and is an incentive for scientific research within the hospital group.