In the largest study of its kind, reports Bloomberg, a new drug showed such impressive results that cardiologists are quoted as saying they hope  this drug and others like it will “overhaul” care for more than 7 million people who have erratic heartbeats. The formal diagnosis for this is atrial fibrillation.

If you or someone in your family has been given this diagnosis and you would like to know more about it, go to www.medlineplus.gov, which is the consumer website of the National Library of Medicine.

The name of this new drug, Pradaxa, is much better tolerated by patients.

Warfarin, currently the only choice available, is an adapted form of rat poison.

Depending on the strength of the dosage of the new drug, according to this report, patients have either a 34 percent fewer strokes or 20 percent fewer episodes of bleeding.

This study was published online at The New England Journal of Medicine on August 30, 2009.

Bloomberg

“Millions of heart patients worldwide may benefit from a breakthrough blood thinner that is likely to replace warfarin, a rat poison doctors crafted into a potent and unwieldy medicine half a century ago, cardiologists said.

“Warfarin users now undergo monthly blood tests to make sure they get the correct amount of the drug, since levels in the body react to numerous other medicines, alcohol and food ranging from beef to broccoli. Too little increases the risk of deadly clots, while too much triggers bleeding. Researchers said they have looked for something better for the past five decades, and have only now found something they agree is superior.” (Emphasis added)

…”“Warfarin is a drug we love to hate,” said Steve Nissen, chairman of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, in an interview. “We’ve been waiting for decades and decades for an alternative. This agent appears that it’s going to make it.” (Emphasis added)

Source: Bloomberg, August 31, 2009

Citation: Published at www.nejm.org August 30, 2009 (10.1056/NEJMoa0905561)