ASPIRIN IS AS GOOD FOR MOST HEART FAILURE PATIENTS AS WARFARIN

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that heart failure patients with a normal heart rhythm could use aspirin and it would be as effective as more expensive drugs, such as Warfarin.

It said each drug had risks, but they had similar benefits overall.

However, a UK cardiologist argued the risks from Warfarin were less serious.

Patients taking Warfarin had a much lower risk of stroke, but had a high risk of bleeds. The research found that after four years there was a "small benefit" with Warfarin, but it was "borderline" and of "uncertain clinical significance", concluding that  "..there is no compelling reason to use Warfarin rather than aspirin".

Heart failure is a major health problem affecting 900,000 people in the UK

A failing heart makes even trivial tasks exhausting as it struggles to pump blood around the body. As the blood is not pumped round the body as efficiently the risk of a blood clot increases, if a clot blocks blood to parts of the brain it will result in a stroke.

Link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17925581