New Drug to Help Stop Heart Attacks

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) – A new drug may help reduce the risk of blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes by 20 percent, according to a new study conducted by Harvard and Stanford researchers.

Some 600,000 people a year undergo a stenting procedure, in which surgeons insert a small mesh tube that props open blocked vessels in the heart following a heart attack or chest pain. A blood thinning agent is used during this common procedure to prevent further heart attacks, but the current drug is not ideal.

Enter cangrelor, a new blood thinner shown to be a significant improvement in decreasing blood clots over the older drug, clopidogrel.

Researchers studied 11,000 patients across the U.S. and found that while 5.9 percent of patients using the older drug reported blood clots, only 4.7 percent of patients on the newer canrelor did. This could mean that the new drug could prevent 7,000 people from experiencing blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes every year. 

The study also found that there were there were no serious side effects found when using cangrelor.

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