People with irregular heart-beats may benefit from a new drug to help prevent them from stroke and blood clots, British researchers said last night.
A major study, revealed at a US conference, suggests the drug rivaroxaban is better than warfarin at protecting these patients.
Researchers said the risk of serious blood clotting and stroke was cut by a fifth for patients using the new drug – compared with those taking warfarin.
Some 14,000 patients with atrial fibrillation have taken part in the research, involving Edinburgh University, Scotland, and Duke University, North Carolina, USA.
The research is being reported to the conference of the American Heart Association in Chicago, USA.
Researcher Professor Keith Fox, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Our study showed that rivaroxaban is simpler to administer and patients taking it have fewer strokes and blood clots.
"We now have an effective alternative to warfarin for patients with irregular heart beats and one that reduces complications and is easier to administer."
Fellow researcher Dr Robert Califf, vice chancellor for clinical research at Duke University School of Medicine, agreed.
He said: "The main implication is that we have an alternative to warfarin. Equally important, there was no increase in bleeding, so we have a drug you can take once a day, without monitoring, that is at least as good as warfarin and carries no additional risk."
* A second study reported to the conference suggests that people with the irregular heartbeat problem may not benefit from eating fish oil.
Researchers tested the benefits of fish oil supplements to see if they could help prevent the recurrence of atrial fibrillation during a six month period.
About 600 people took part in the research at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA.
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