Pradaxa has just recently been approved by the FDA for use in the U.S.

Pradaxa – or Dabigatran – it’s generic name eliminates the need to monitor INR in Atrial Fibrillation patients.

This is good news for atrial fibrillation (Afib) patients who are taking warfarin to prevent stroke.  It is well known that routine blood monitoring and varied food interactions have made warfarin a major hassle for patients for too long.

The  new drug, Pradaxa (dabigatran), looks as if  it may be able to provide the same protection as warfarin without the monitoring just take the prescribed pills and you are good to go.  Now you can eat whatever you want and not worry about some vitamin k getting in there to thwart your clot protection.

The findings were based on an analysis of a subgroup of 3623 patients from the RE-LY trial, which randomized patients to receive either warfarin, a low dose of Pradaxa twice a day, or a higher dose of Pradaxa twice a day, for a median of two years.

At the end of the study, there were no significant differences in the incidence of stroke or clot between any of the Pradaxa and warfarin groups.  Stroke or clot in other blood vessels occurred in 55 patients on low-dose Pradaxa, 51 patients on high-dose Pradaxa and 64 patients on warfarin.   However, patients who were treated with the lower dose of Pradaxa were 32-percent less likely to experience a major bleeding event than those treated with wafarin.

The days of going for regular blood tests to check your INR may now be over!  No more needles!!

It’s about time…

Stingram

Related articles

• Boehringer’s Blood Thinner Dabigatran (Pradaxa) Unanimously Endorsed (cenblog.org)
• You: US gives green light to anticoagulant Pradaxa (france24.com)
• FDA Approves Pradaxa, Marking a Major Milestone to Reduce the Risk of Stroke in Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation (prnewswire.com)
• New Atrial Fibrillation Drug Pradaxa Approved (webmd.com)