2 Drugs May Cut Strokes in High-Risk Group

Adding another “blood thinner” to aspirin may reduce the risk of a new stroke in people who have had a very minor or brief stroke, a study finds. The study included more than 5,000 people. All of them had either a “mini-stroke” (with only minor symptoms) or a transient ischemic attack (TIA). With a TIA, stroke symptoms last less than 24 hours. But people who had TIAs in this study also had extra factors that increased their stroke risk. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group took aspirin only. The other group took aspirin plus another drug to prevent clotting, clopidogrel (Plavix). In the next 90 days, 8.2% of the 2-drug group and 11.7% of the aspirin-only group had strokes. That’s a risk reduction of about one-third for those who took both drugs. They did not have any more side effects, such as excess bleeding, than the aspirin-only group.