A new study suggests that clopidogrel, a common blood thinner, may be better than aspirin at protecting people with heart disease from serious problems like heart attacks and strokes.
This finding challenges the long-standing practice of prescribing aspirin as the main long-term treatment for people with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Coronary artery disease happens when the blood vessels that supply the heart become narrow, making it harder for blood to reach the heart. This condition increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and even death.
People with CAD usually take medicine for life to prevent these serious events. For many years, doctors have relied on aspirin for this purpose.
But this new analysis, published in the medical journal The Lancet, looked at data from nearly 29,000 people across seven different clinical trials. It found that patients who took clopidogrel had a 14% lower chance of having a major heart or stroke event compared to those who took aspirin.
One important concern about blood thinners like clopidogrel is the risk of bleeding. But the study found that people taking clopidogrel did not have a higher risk of major bleeding than those on aspirin. This means clopidogrel may offer better protection without added danger.
The study included many different types of patients—some who had stents placed in their arteries and others who had experienced severe heart problems like a heart attack.
The researchers also looked at whether certain genetic or clinical factors made a difference. Even in patients who were expected to respond less well to clopidogrel, the results still showed a benefit over aspirin.
Because both aspirin and clopidogrel are widely available around the world, this new research could change the way doctors treat people with heart disease. It suggests that clopidogrel should be considered the better choice for long-term care in people who already have coronary artery disease.
However, the researchers say more studies are needed to examine how cost-effective clopidogrel is and how well it works in even larger groups of people. These follow-up studies could help confirm whether clopidogrel should fully replace aspirin as the go-to drug for long-term heart protection.
For now, the findings offer new hope for better treatments and outcomes for millions of people living with heart disease.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin K helps cut heart disease risk by a third, and a year of exercise reversed worrisome heart failure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about supplements that could help prevent heart disease, stroke, and results showing this food ingredient may strongly increase heart disease death risk.
The study is published in The Lancet.
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