Posted on 06/15/2010 10:38:37 AM PDT by neverdem
LONDON — A cheap drug that can stop bleeding in recently injured accident patients could potentially save the lives of tens of thousands worldwide, a new study says.
Researchers studied the effects of tranexamic acid, or TXA, in more than 10,000 adult trauma patients in 40 countries who received the drug within eight hours of being injured. They compared those patients’ outcomes to more than 10,000 accident victims who got a placebo treatment. The study was published online today in the medical journal Lancet.
Doctors found that patients who got TXA had a 15 percent lower chance of dying from a hemorrhage than those who didn’t get it. They also had a 10 percent lower chance of dying from any other cause, including organ failure and a head injury, versus patients who didn’t receive TXA. The study was paid for by the British government...
(Excerpt) Read more at nhregister.com ...
My only question about this, is what clotting takes place in the body removed from the wound site? Is there a small percentage of brain or other location circulatory problems associated with this?
If this saves 15%, is there say 7% that suffer from inappropriate clotting?
The study doesn’t mention this, so I am not inclined to think there would be, but it’s a valid question.
Maybe any news crews or college students planning to interview Etheridge should carry some of this drug around with them...just in case.
How unethical is it to give placebos to people in dire need? Ugh. I know these studies have to be done, but as the data came in, I know I would argue against continuing placebos where there was a 15% higher survival rate with the drug.
Very, once results start coming in. There's some diabetic drug which has never been blind-tested because the original tests had such stunning results that it was considered unethical to do blind testing. I've forgotten the name, but it surfaced when I was doing research when first diagnosed.
Many years ago I had a very bad toothache but couldn’t afford treatment. A friend gave me a liquid substance she said was DMSO. I rubbed it on my gums and the pain very quickly went away.
Studies are often stopped for that very reason.
Cases in which lives are at stake compare the new drug/treatment with usual care, not with a worthless placebo. Trials are stopped once the new treatment is demonstrated to be significantly better.
So patients who were treated where there were specialists and extra support personnel on hand, did better than people who got regular attention from the existing staff.
Who would’ve guessed that?
Yeppers!!! Ive used this drug
It won't be cheap much longer. Watch for the price to increase by 10,000%.
That would appear to be the reason the experiment was extended to 10,000 people. I’m sure the experiment would have stopped earlier given its obvious effectiveness unless there was some real worry about such side-effects.
Are you sure it wasn’t Oil of clove?
It’s what I use for toothache, a small bottle
is only 4 or 5 bucks at most pharmacy.
A cotton swab dipped in it and put on the tooth
or gum will take the pain away for some time.
Always carry some in my first aid kit.
Thanks for your response. Whether that was the exact reason, I agree that it would seem the problem that concerned me must not have appeared.
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