HAMILTON, Ontario, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A Canadian global study of the inexpensive anti-clotting drug Reviparin could reduce the death rate of heart attack victims worldwide by 30 percent.
Co-investigators Dr. Salim Yusuf and Dr. Shamir Mehta of the Population Health Research Institute at Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University enrolled more than 15,500 people in China, India and Pakistan in a 4-year study.
The study showed the risk of deaths, heart attacks and strokes were reduced by about a sixth. It also shown the benefits were greater the earlier the treatment was used after the onset of symptoms. In those who were treated within two hours of symptom onset, the death rate was lowered by about 30 percent.
"The reduction in mortality with Reviparin is truly remarkable since no other drug in this class has shown similar benefits, and the fact the drug was tested on top of already proven therapies," Mehta said:
About 15.5 million people die worldwide from cardiovascular problems each year and about half of these are due to acute myocardial infarction, with the majority occurring in low and middle-income countries, his partner Yusuf added.
