The Heart patients taking the drug plavix can also take the PPI drug (proton pump inhibitor) for acid reduction safely as per the suggestion of 2 earlier researches. The new discovery seems to be contradictory with certain recent researches which shows negative results in heart patients taking plavix along with PPI particularly who take Prilosec drug.

In a very recent research, which was done in March, the patients of heart attack who were taking Plavix along with PPI were more prone to 2nd heart attack when compared to other patients who were taking Plavix without taking PPI. Plavix along with another drug Effient got its FDA approval in june and was suggested for patient with heart attack in combination with aspirin for avoiding blood clots which can cause stroke or 2nd attacks.

The Prisolic, Prevacid, Protnoix and Nexium etc. are PPIs which are offered to decrease risks of intestinal or stomach bleedings, caused by anti-clotting drugs.

PPIs all right along With Plavix

The new study did not show any increase in risk along with stroke, cardiovascular death or stroke among patients who took both Plavix and PPIs. They did not find any cardiovascular problems associated with people who used these drugs. There is a contradiction between current discoveries and previous analyzes.

One more point is that PPIs are often suggested to severe heart patients. The studies were patronized by Eli Lilly & Co, the manufacturers were Effient and compared with Plavix drug. The 2 trials involved more than thirteen thousand six hundred patients who suffered a heart attack previously and had unstable angina which were treated with the 2 drugs.

Patients who took the analysis were young and were less probable to suffer from kidney failure or diabetes while earlier trials involved many patients who showed bad results with usage of PPI. This explains why the patients using PPI show poor health when compared with many other patients involved in the research. 1/3 of the patients who participated in trial also took PPI, but it was not found linked with high risk of 2nd heart attack, fatal cardio vascular problem or stroke with any of the 2 anti-clotting medicines.

PPIs are not suitable for All

The research reports are scheduled to get published in an approaching publication of The Lancet journal. The present results offer some support to the practitioners that PPIs and Effient could be combined and used safely by patients who have been suggested to use them both. But PPIs must not be offered to all individuals who take Effient or Plavix.

In an editorial column that was issued along with research, it was written that usage of PPI might be particularly of high risk to a minor group of heart patients who are predisposed genetically to have low response to such anti-clotting medicines. Patients who take Effient or Plavix along with PPI should be looked after by their physicians carefully for any consequences.

Taking Statin Pills can reduce blood pressure as per new study. There is another important advantage of taking statins. As per a new study the drugs which help in reducing cholesterol have also been effective for reducing the blood pressure of patients. The research members have stated that it is the very first time that such a study has proven the results of positive effects of statins in human body apart from reducing cholesterol.

The research members evaluated nine hundred and seventy three patients (both men and women) from the region of southern California. The candidates did not have any heart problems or diabetes. The candidates were treated with pravachol, placebo or zocor each day for 6 months continuously.

Blood Pressure and Relation With Statins:

Patients, who took either any of the statin pills, had a small but notable decrease in their blood pressure when they were compared with another group of individuals who were given placebo drugs. The statins were able to reduce both diastolic and systolic blood pressure among the patients and this effect can extend to other patients who suffer from pre-hypertension, people with usual blood pressures and for people who do not take medications for reducing blood pressure. The research and doctor Beatrice Golomb, MD, Phd has stated in the news release about the benefits of taking statins over the blood pressure when compared to people who don’t take such drugs.

Golomb is currently working for California University and he belongs to San Diego medical school. The statins are the best selling drugs which are usually prescribed by doctors for patients with heavy cholesterol in their body. But the physicians have stated that the benefit of health which is got from statin has been more increased as they have some effect on accumulation of plaque in the blood vessels. The blood pressure could be reduced which is because of the reduction of plaque which causes free movement of blood in patients thereby reducing their blood pressure.

Benefits of Low Blood Pressure

The reduction in blood pressure can be associated with decrease in risk for stroke and other diseases related to heart. The authors of the study are suspecting that the use of statins could be helpful in decreasing the risk of stroke and heart related problems among patients who are suffering from such diseases.

The decrease of blood pressure through use of Statins which also help in reducing the cholesterol contents among the patients is like a double edged sword and can be helpful in reducing the problems related to heart like stroke and other cardiovascular diseases that can arise due to high pressure in blood. Golomb has asked his team members to research further with various statin types that can be more powerful and could produce various effects and also with various doses and treatment for longer time frame in order to observe the benefits of this amazing drug further and to provider an effective treatment strategy for reducing blood pressure through statins. The research paper was published in Internal Medicine archive journal.

GERD stands for Gastroeasophageal Reflux Disease. The Oesophagus is a part of the digestive tract that carries the food from the mouth to the stomach. The oesophagus contains a sphincter that regulates the passage of food in and out of the oesophagus. Sometimes the opening and closing of this sphincter is spontaneous which causes the food along with the digestive acids to rise into the oesophagus.

When these acids along with the food keep rising into the oesophagus from time to time, it leads to the condition known as GERD. The GERD symptoms and the heartburn symptoms are closely related and connected to each other and a close watch on these GERD symptoms and heartburn symptoms is required for the control of this disorder.

GERD Symptoms

When the digestive acids from the stomach keep rising into the oesophagus, it is called acid reflux. This acid reflux causes a burning sensation in the heart and the throat. This burning sensation is called heartburn. Heartburn is one of the most common GERD symptoms. The other GERD symptoms include pain in themed chest, pain in the breast bone, pain in the mid abdomen, nausea and vomiting, etc. The other common GERD symptoms are dry cough, asthma symptoms and also they face trouble swallowing.

Causes For Heartburn

The walls of the stomach are protected from the digestive acids by a mucous lining. However, this is not the case in the esophagus. When these digestive acids enter the esophagus due to acid reflux, it causes a burning sensation which is one of the heartburn symptoms and also one of the GERD symptoms.

The common causes for heartburn are eating gas-producing foods and fatty/oily foods that digest slowly, pregnancy, wearing extremely tight clothes, especially tight waistbands, tight belts and slimming undergarments, sleeping on a full stomach, as happens when you have dinner around bedtime, bending down often, certain types of foods, smoking or chewing tobacco, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, excessively spicy foods, stressful conditions and some types of medications.

Heartburn Symptoms

As pointed out earlier, the acid reflux into the oesophagus causes a burning sensation which is referred to as heartburn. Heartburn is therefore a symptom to another disorder in addition to being a disorder on its own. There are several heartburn symptoms that are quite evident and are used for the diagnosis of this disorder. Some of the common heartburn symptoms are burning feeling in the chest, burning sensation in the throat, sour and bitter tastes in the mouth, swallowing difficulties, chronic coughing and wheezing. These heartburn symptoms are important for the diagnosis and treatment of heartburn as well as GERD.

Heartburn Treatment

Heartburn is a serious problem that affects a lot of people worldwide and affects their everyday activities. The treatment of heartburn includes the diagnosis based on the heartburn symptoms such as burning sensation in the stomach, chest and throat. Once the heartburn symptoms have been identified, the first line of defense for many people includes the use of antacids and other drugs that neutralize stomach acids. This is done to mainly to neutralize the heartburn symptoms.

GERD Treatment

The treatment of GERD is a bit more complex than that of normal heartburn and in addition to the analysis of the GERD symptoms it also requires some life style changes such as reducing obesity, cutting down on chocolates and foods that cause discomfort, avoiding smoke, drugs and alcohol, reducing stress, avoiding excessively hot or cold foods, etc. These measures help to fight the GERD symptoms which in turn would help to reduce the effect of the disorder.