A new blood thinner not yet available in the U.S. is showing promise in its efficacy and safety. A study published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine demonstrates that the drug, dabigatran etexilate, performed just as well as warfarin (also known as coumadin) in helping patients with potentially dangerous clots in their veins avoid a subsequent clot or death over the next six months. In previous studies dabigatran was shown to be effective in preventing blood clots in patients with acute coronary syndrome (an umbrella term for symptoms that may indicate a heart attack), and was superior to warfarin in preventing strokes among patients with atrial fibrillation, a type of heart arrhythmia. However, what sets dabigatran apart from warfarin is it’s easy of use. Since it doesn’t interact with food and has minimal interactions with other drugs it is very easy to manage how well one’s blood is being thinned out, unlike with warfarin where patients often visit an anticoagulation clinic once a week. Dabigatran is currently available in Canada and Europe. [via HealthDay]
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Tags: acute coronary syndrome, arrhthmia, blood clot, blood thinner, coumadin, dabigatran, etexilate, stroke, warfarin
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Thanks for sharing this information. However, really useful bits of information would be if and when this drug will be available in the U.S., and if it won’t be, why not.
December 8th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Ditto:
Thanks for sharing this information. However, really useful bits of information would be if and when this drug will be available in the U.S., and if it won’t be, why not.
December 8th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I hope it is available soon in the US due to dangers involved with taking coumadin and the hassle of having to go to the doctor once a week. Please let us know when available in US and if there would be anything a person could do to hurry it along? Thank you. TJ