A pill costing little more than £1 a day could save the lives of thousands suffering from a common heart condition.
British doctors are so impressed with the ‘breakthrough findings’ of a major study that they have pledged to start using the drug, ivabradine, to treat patients with heart failure straight away, even though it has not yet been licensed for the condition in the UK.
More than 700,000 people live with heart failure, which occurs when the organ becomes too weak to pump blood efficiently round the body.
This can lead to fatigue, breathlessness, increased heart rate and other serious complications.
Preventable: Up to 10,000 lives could be saved a year thanks to £10-a-week medication, a trial has shown (file picture)
Around 100,000 a year are thought to die from heart failure and many patients are repeatedly admitted to hospital because of their symptoms.
The dramatic results from the trial of 6,500 patients – the biggest of its kind – found a 26 per cent cut in heart failure deaths, suggesting the lives of around 10,000 British patients could be saved each year.
The research also found ivabradine will help reduce the number of hospital admissions by 26 per cent, which would cut costs.
Heart failure accounts for up to two per cent of the NHS budget, with direct medical costs alone amounting to £625million a year.
SOURCE :MAILONLINE
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