foodconsumer.org: New drug beats warfarin in reducing stroke risk

New drug beats warfarin in reducing stroke risk
================================================================================
admin on 08/31/2009 11:08:00
 
David Liu  - davidl at foodconsumer dot org
A new experimental drug is able to cut the risk of stroke in patients with
irregular heartbeats by more than three times compared with the conventional
anti-clotting drug warfarin, according to a study presented at the European
Society of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona.
People with irregular heartbeats can be five times more likely to experience a
stroke than healthy people. In the United States, more than 2 million people
have such a condition.
The downside is that patients on the new drug dabigatran made by Germ
pharmaceutical Boehringer Ingelheim, were also slightly more likely to suffer
heart attack or stomach pain.
The study of 18,000 patients with irregular heartbeats, or atrial fibrillation,
showed that using warfarin cut the risk of stroke by 0.38 percent while using
dabigatran reduced the risk by 0.48 percent.
Warfarin reduces the risk of blood clotting. But if used in large dosages, it
can also increase risk of the bleeding type of stroke, according to an early
study.
Dr. Daniel Woo, coauthor of the study, at the University of Cincinnati and
published the study in the Sep 30 2008 issue of Neurology saying that a large
volume of hemorrhage was found in those patients using warfarin. Warfarin has
been found to increase the risk of death from stroke.
Warfarin is used to prevent blood clots which could otherwise lead to blockage
type of stroke. But if the clotting ability is reduced too much, patients would
have higher risk of bleeding in the brain.
Stroke strikes more than 700,000 people each year in the United States.  No
drugs are absolutely safe to use to reduce the risk.  However, there is
something that may help.
Drinking three cups of green or black tea a day can reduce the risk of stroke by
21 percent, according to a study published in the online edition of Stroke.
Avoiding certain dairy foods may also help.  A study in the Dec 2008 issue of
Epidemiology found men who consumed highest amounts of whole milk were 41
percent more likely to have intracerebral hemorrhage than those who consumed the
lowest amounts.
Best adherence to the so called DASH-style diet which is full of plant-based
foods may also reduce stroke in middle-aged women by 18 percent compared to
worst adherence to the diet, according to a study in the April 14, 2008 issue of
Archives of Internal Medicine.
Turmeric a spicy ingredient used in curry may be used to treat or prevent
hemorrhagic stroke.  Researchers at Medical College of Georgia found turmeric
reduced the size of the blood clots in an animal model of hemorrhagic stroke.
Avoiding alcohol may cut the risk.  A study of 38,000 people, who were followed
for 14 years, showed heavy drinkers were 42 percent more likely to suffer a
stroke compared to those who did not drink.
Avoiding cold remedies with an ingredient known as phenylpropanolamine (PPA)
appears to reduce the risk of hemorrhagic stroke in women by four times,
according to a Korean study published in the January 9th, 2007 issue of
Neurology.