Thursday 11th August 2011
New drug found for irregular heart beats
BBC News
Patients with irregular heart beats could benefit from a drug that is easier to administer than the current standard treatment.
The condition, which affects about 800,000 people in the UK, can lead to blood clots forming and significantly increases the risk of stroke.
The standard treatment, warfarin, was compared with the drug rivaroxaban.
Rivaroxaban was found to be as effective as warfarin in reducing the risk of stroke.
The study was led by Edinburgh University and the Duke University in North Carolina, North America.