If you’ve had a minor stroke or a transient ischemic stroke (TIA), taking the clot-preventing drug clopidogrel along with aspirin may lower your risk of having a major stroke within the next 90 days, according to new research published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
An international study of 4,881 adults in 10 countries who either had a minor stroke or a TIA showed that people who took clopidogrel plus aspirin had a 25 percent lower risk of a major stroke, heart attack or death from blood clots within the three months after the first incident, compared with those who took aspirin alone.
“The study gives us solid evidence that we can use this drug combination to prevent strokes in the highest-risk people, but not without some risk of bleeding,” said lead author Clay Johnston, M.D., Ph.D., dean and professor of neurology at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.
Both minor stroke and TIA are warning signs that a person has a 3 to 15 percent chance of having a more severe stroke within the next three months. Minor stroke is one that results in mild, nondisabling symptoms. TIA, often called a warning stroke or mini-stroke, is caused by a temporary blockage in a blood vessel to the brain that often dissolves or dislodges on its own to stop symptoms. More than a third of U.S. adults have had TIA symptoms, according to the American Stroke Association.
Read more at The University of Texas at Austin