clotting and blood-thinning treatments. But because aspirin does not work in many people, finding that a different anti-clotting drug like Plavix works is good news, they said. In other news at the conference, an analysis involving the patients in the Chinese study found that the common practice of giving heart attack patients drugs called beta blockers should be delayed. People given the drug had fewer repeat heart attacks but more risk of heart shock, so the risks and benefits canceled each other out. «It may be better to start beta blocker therapy after a patient's condition has stabilized,» Canon said. A third study on 255 people in Italy tested higher doses of Plavix before balloon angioplasty to open blocked arteries. The risk of heart attack, death or the need for repeat procedures was 10 percent among those given the standard dose and only 4 percent among others who got a double dose. --SP 2314 Local Time 2014 GMT
