Novel AF treatment in development

A new drug may transform the treatment given to people with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia.

The condition affects millions of people and puts sufferers at a three to five times greater risk of a stroke, however a new drug trial may have highlighted a potential treatment for the condition.

Currently, AF is treated with anticoagulants which have unfortunate side effects such as the increased risk of bleeding, while their administration also needs close monitoring by physicians.

Dr Justin Ezekowitz, from the University of Alberta, told a late breaking clinical trial session at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, that Apixaban, a new form of oral anticoagulant, resulted in fewer strokes and fewer systemic embolisms.

"We have a drug that can increase reductions in death and stroke and it is safer in terms of bleeding," says Dr Ezekowitz. "It is also easier to use."

AF is increasingly common as the global population is aging.