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April 25th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda WEDNESDAY, April 25 (HealthDay News) — When patients with atrial
fibrillation stop taking anti-clotting drugs, their stroke risk goes up
quickly, new research finds.
That risk increases about the same whether they are taking warfarin or
a newer, more expensive drug, Xarelto (rivaroxaban).
Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm in which the upper
chambers of the heart quiver or flutter instead of contracting correctly,
raising the risk of stroke fivefold. Patients are often put on
anti-clotting drugs to ward off stroke.
But some people need to temporarily stop taking anti-clotting drugs
before surgery or other medical procedures to prevent excess bleeding,
while other patients permanently stop taking anti-clotting drugs because
of side effects, researchers said.
Researchers analyzed data from a previous trial including more than
14,000 patients with atrial fibrillation. In that trial, rivaroxaban was
found to be as effective as warfarin in preventing stroke and blood clots.
Both drugs carried about an equal risk of causing excessive bleeding.
In the new study, researchers concentrated on patients who had stopped
taking the drugs, either temporarily or permanently. Regardless of which
drug was stopped, the rate of strokes and blood clots went up about the
same.
Decisions to halt either warfarin or rivaroxaban should be made
carefully, since going off the drugs means the heightened stroke risk
associated with atrial fibrillation returns, said lead researcher Dr.
Manesh Patel, an assistant professor of medicine at Duke University School
of Medicine.
“All anticoagulation decisions in patients with atrial fibrillation
require risk benefit analysis, and for patients and physicians periods
without anticoagulation coverage should be minimized,” Patel said.
The study was to be presented Wednesday at the American Heart
Association Emerging Science Series.
Atrial fibrillation affects more than 2.3 million men and women in the
United States and accounts for more than 15 percent of all strokes, said
Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of
California, Los Angeles. Anticoagulation therapy reduces the risk of
stroke by 60 to 80 percent in patients with atrial fibrillation, Fonarow
said.
Yet there are key differences between the older and the new drug,
including price and how much monitoring is needed, experts said.
Patients taking warfarin need to have the levels of the drug monitored
and adjusted regularly to insure it is being effective and not increasing
the risk of serious bleeding, while patients taking rivaroxaban don’t
require as careful monitoring.
“While the newer oral anticoagulants rivaroxaban and dabigatran
(Pradaxa) cost approximately $250 a month compared with warfarin, which
costs only a few dollars a month, these new agents have the advantage of
not requiring monthly blood draws and providing more reliable
anticoagulation,” Fonarow said.
Because this research has not yet been published, it has not been
subjected to the rigorous scrutiny given to research published in
peer-reviewed medical journals and should be viewed as preliminary.
The study was partly funded by Johnson Johnson and Bayer
HealthCare AG, which makes rivaroxaban.
More information
The American Heart Association has more on atrial
fibrillation.
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