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(HealthNewsDigest.com)-Each year, nearly 1.5 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) after being hospitalized for chest pain or heart attack. In 2009, an estimated 785,000 people in the United States will have a new heart attack and about 470,000 will have a recurrent attack, many of which are managed with an artery-opening procedure known as PCI. The physical and emotional impact of these events can be devastating-heart attacks not only cause damage to the heart muscle and affect daily functioning, but can also lead to depression, fear and anger.
“Suffering a heart attack or other cardiac event is frightening and can be a life-altering experience, but with proper treatment and a healthy lifestyle many people can reduce their chances of future events and reclaim a normal life,” said Margaret Elbert, president of Mended Hearts, a nationwide support group for patients with heart disease.
Now, there is a new treatment option to help patients with ACS, an umbrella term for conditions that occur due to blockages of blood flow to the heart, including unstable angina-chest pain or discomfort that usually occurs at rest-and heart attack. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Effient™ (prasugrel) to help reduce the risk of future heart attacks and stent-related blood clots in patients with ACS who have had an artery-opening procedure known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which is usually followed by the placement of a stent to help keep the artery open.
“Prasugrel (Effient) is a welcome new therapeutic option for many ACS patients who undergo PCI,” said Dr. Stephen D. Wiviott, a cardiologist who studied prasugrel with the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Study Group of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Our study of prasugrel versus clopidogrel (Plavix®) showed that these patients had significantly fewer heart attacks and stent-related clots when treated with prasugrel. However, there was a significantly higher risk of serious and sometimes life-threatening, even fatal, bleeding events in prasugrel patients compared with clopidogrel patients. The highest risk of bleeding was seen in patients ages 75 years and older, those with a history of stroke or ‘mini stroke’ (TIA) or low body weight.”
Effient, co-developed by Daiichi Sankyo Company, Ltd., and Eli Lilly and Company, is an antiplatelet medication that works by blocking a specific receptor on the platelet surface, thereby preventing platelets-the blood particles responsible for clotting and stopping bleeding-from sticking or clumping together. This effect reduces the risk of clogged arteries.
For more information about Effient, talk to your healthcare professional or visit www.Effient.com.
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