According to new study, a 'superaspirin' could save thousands of heart attack victims each year. Scientists looked at the effect of adding the anti-clotting drug Plavix to aspirin, which is routinely given to the patients.
Researchers found the regime increased survival rates and helped patients live longer. The treatment only costs an extra Ј1 a day per patient.
A study of 46,000 patients from 1,250 hospitals in China found that adding Plavix, also known as clopidogrel, reduced the relative risk of deaths, repeat heart attacks and stroke by 9 per cent, informs Daily Mail.
Plavix, first introduced in 1997 to prevent blood cells known as platelets from sticking together and clotting, had sales of 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) last year. Giving the drug to about 1 million of the 10 million patients who have a &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/360/14853_cholesterol.html' target=_blank>heart attack every year would prevent about 5,000 deaths and 5,000 non-fatal reoccurrence of heart attacks and strokes, Chen said.
Novartis AG's beta-blocker Lopressor can cut the risk of repeat heart attacks and ventricular fibrillation by as much as 20 percent in heart attack patients, Chen also found. Still, Lopressor raised the risk of cardiac shock by 30 percent, so doctors should wait until a patient's condition has stabilized before starting with beta-blockers, drugs designed to help ease the workload of the heart, Chen said, reports Bloomberg.
O.Ch.
Speak your mind on Pravda.ru forum
Iran to Enrich Uranium Despite Global Opposition
Forum
STATISTICS
Source: 
