Combining Plavix, a costly "super-aspirin," with regular aspirin proved to be no more effective than aspirin alone for preventing heart disease.
In fact, the combination nearly doubled the death rate from heart disease among patients who had not had heart attacks but were at risk for them.
A study on the effects of Plavix divided over 15,000 patients with heart disease into two groups -- one that took Plavix and aspirin, and one that took aspirin with a placebo.
The only major difference was that almost 4 percent of those who took Plavix and had not had a heart attack died over the course of the study, as opposed to just over 2 percent of those who took only aspirin.
Last year alone American physicians wrote 24 million prescriptions for Plavix. They thought they were actually helping lower the risk of heart disease with this approach.
One should not be surprised with these results as this is to be anticipated when you seek to address chronic health issues by cheating with a band-aid drug that in no way, shape or form addresses the underlying cause of the illness.
Additionally, researchers should have had some sort of clue about these kinds of health-harming results, considering Plavix elevated a patient's risk of developing ulcers by a factor of 12 versus aspirin and Nexium.
No matter what your doctor may tell you, aspirin, or worse, even more expensive aspirin-like drugs, are not the solution for decreasing your risk from heart disease or stroke.
Interestingly, according to one Harvard pharmacist, aspirin probably wouldn't have been approved by the FDA for over-the-counter use had it debuted today.
So what can you or your family do to authentically, safely and inexpensively lower your risk of heart diease?
A safe and effective alternative to aspirin is CardioEssentials, a revolutionary powerful enzyme called nattokinase, derived from the food natto. Unlike aspirin, and other pharmaceutical agents, nattokinase has been used safely for over 20 years, has not been known to produce any negative side effects -- and it is not known to be an allergen.
You can also use these other lifestyle modifications to protect your heart: