Aspirin as good as warfarin for most heart patients

Aspirin could be as effective as more expensive drugs for heart failure patients with a normal heart rhythm, according to researchers. Their study on more than 2,000 patients, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said aspirin was as effective as the commonly prescribed drug warfarin. It said each drug had risks, but they had similar benefits overall. However, a UK cardiologist argued the risks from warfarin were less serious. Heart failure is a major health problem in many parts of the world. It affects 900,000 people in the UK and six million people in the US. A failing heart struggles to pump blood around the body, meaning even trivial tasks become exhausting. As the blood is not pumped round the body as efficiently the risk of a blood clot increases which can result in a stroke.

 

Aspirin vs warfarin

Patients are treated with drugs to reduce the risk of a fatal blood clot forming. However, researchers said it was unknown whether aspirin or warfarin was the better treatment in the 75 per cent of heart failure patients who still have a normal heart beat. Researchers gave 2,305 patients, in 11 countries, either aspirin or warfarin. The combined risk of death, stroke and major bleeding was the same for each drug, according to the researchers. Patients taking warfarin had a much lower risk of stroke, but had a high risk of bleeds. They said that after four years there was a “small benefit” with warfarin, but it was “borderline” and of “uncertain clinical significance”.

They concluded: “There is no compelling reason to use warfarin rather than aspirin”. (BBC)