Adding Blood Thinner to Aspirin to Prevent Heart Attacks is Risky
Posted on: Monday, 13 March 2006, 15:00 CST
ATLANTA (AP) -- Some people taking the blood thinner Plavix on top of aspirin to try to prevent heart attacks, as many doctors recommend, now have good reason to stop.
The drug combination not only didn't help most people in a newly released study, but it unexpectedly almost doubled the risk of death, heart attack or stroke for those with no clogged arteries but with worrisome conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
"They actually were harmed," said Dr. Eric Topol. "This was a trial to determine the boundaries of benefit, and it did. You don't use this drug for patients without coronary artery disease."
Nothing in the study changes recommendations that people who recently have had heart attacks or a procedure to unclog an artery take those medicines. This study dealt with expanding use of the drug to other people.
Topol and Dr. Deepak Bhatt of the Cleveland Clinic led the study, which involved 15,603 people in 32 countries. Topol has since left the clinic and is at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Results were reported Sunday at an American College of Cardiology conference.
Source: Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
Related Articles
- Palatin Reports Positive Results From Phase IIa Study of Heart Failure Drug
- OSU Doctor to Study Athletes' Hearts
- Study Finds Heart Drug Can Cause Kidney Failure
- Study Links Heart-Surgery Drug to Major Health Risks
- Study Probes Heart Attacks, Overdoses
- Study: Drug Underprescribed Cholesterol-Lowering Statins Not Getting to at-Risk Heart Disease Patients
- Study: Drug Combos Best for Heart Disease
- Study Questions Heart Failure Drug
- Study Finds Heart Disease Among Thousands of Patients Taking Vioxx
- Studies of Heart Disease and Diabetes Risk Find Mixed Results
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds