Health Headlines - August 31

Return of swine flu: What's ahead for Americans?

The alarm sounded with two sneezy children in California in April. Just five months later, the never-before-seen swine flu has become the world's dominant strain of influenza, and it's putting a shockingly younger face on flu.

So get ready. With flu's favorite chilly weather fast approaching, we're going to be a sick nation this fall. The big unknown is how sick. One in five people infected or a worst case — half the population? The usual 36,000 deaths from flu or tens of thousands more?

The World Health Organization predicts that within two years, nearly one-third of the world's population will have caught it.

"What we know is, it's brand new and no one really has an immunity to this disease," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says.

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New AstraZeneca drug reduces heart patients' risks

A new drug to prevent blood clots in heart patients reduced their chances of dying by more than 20 percent compared with the standard treatment, new research says.

Researchers followed 18,624 patients worldwide from 2006 to 2008. About half the patients were taking clopidogrel, also known as Plavix, while the other half were taking an experimental drug called ticagrelor, or Brilinta, made by AstraZeneca PLC.

Those on Brilinta had a 4.5 percent chance of dying, versus a 5.9 percent death risk for patients on Plavix, the world's second-best selling medication made by France's Sanofi-Aventis SA and U.S. drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

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Study shows experimental drug cuts stroke risk

An experimental drug reduces the stroke risk in patients with irregular heartbeats by more than three times, compared with the popular drug warfarin — but possibly at a cost, according to new research released Sunday.

Patients taking the new drug dabigatran etexilate, made by German pharmaceutical Boehringer Ingelheim, also were slightly more likely to have heart attacks or stomach pain, according to the research presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona.

Patients with irregular heartbeats are up to five times more likely to have a stroke than healthy people.

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Exercise beats angioplasty for some heart patients

Working up a sweat may be even better than angioplasty for some heart patients, experts say.

Studies have shown heart patients benefit from exercise, and some have even shown it works better than surgical procedures. At a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology on Sunday, several experts said doctors should focus more on persuading their patients to exercise rather than simply doing angioplasties.