Health Coaching would have alerted you sooner to FDA finding on Plavix and acid drugs

FROM Heartwire: Cardiologists Shocked by New FDA Alert on Clopidogrel-PPI Interaction
I am shocked that cardiologists are shocked because all they had to do was to take just a little time to review the literature and do a drug interaction profile.  Had they done this, something that takes about 5 minutes, they would have been able to know that the acid blocking drugs interfere with the P450 detox pathway and also proetin digestion.  Additionally they could have learned about the nutrient depletions and related problems from both of these drugs.  Not to overlook the risk of silent bleeding as well,..

Are things so bad that this is the level of health care we are getting because Big PhARMA and Big Insurance is behind obstruction of health reform?

Previously posted articles, related issues -
Resolve Acid Reflux with Care, Naturally
Natural Blood Thinning

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Recently, Dr. Mehmet Oz told Larry King on CNN about how health coaches can solve America's health crisis. Even five years ago it would have been hard to imagine that prevention and wellness would be considered in the mainstream.

CHI has been offering health coaching for several decades in a very unique way that has led us to the place where we seeking a patent.

If you were learning about natural health approaches to health problem you might not be at risk for this drug interaction problem and you'd be saving a lot of money at the same time.

If you are looking for in depth information about your prescription drugs and what you can safely use in their place you might wish to use our services. We have many patients who use this service and get the information they need to protect their health and learn how to advocate for their own health as well as how to ask the right questions when they see their health care provider.
 
We also offer this service to health care professionals and law firms.

FDA says heartburn drugs can interfere with Plavix


By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone

WASHINGTON – Federal health officials said Tuesday a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.

The Food and Drug Administration said the stomach-soothing drugs Prilosec (20 mg average price $132/mo) and Nexium (20 mg average price $211/mo) cut in half the blood-thinning effect of Plavix (75 mg average price $211/mo), known generically as clopidogrel.

Regulators said the key ingredient in the heartburn medications blocks an enzyme the body needs to break down Plavix, muting the drug's full effect. Procter & Gamble's Prilosec is the over-the-counter version of AstraZeneca's Nexium, which was first approved in 2001.

"Patients at risk for heart attacks or strokes who use clopidogrel to prevent blood clots will not get the full effect of this medicine," the agency said in a statement.

Plavix is marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. With global sales of $8.6 billion last year, it's the world's second-best selling drug behind Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor.

Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with stomach acid-blocking drugs.

The FDA says patients who need to reduce their acid should take drugs from the H-2 blocker family, which include Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta and Boehringer Ingelheim's Zantac. FDA scientists say there is no evidence those drugs interfere with Plavix's blood clotting.

Nexium and Prilosec are part of a class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors, but FDA regulators said they don't have enough information to say whether other drugs in that class shouldn't be used with Plavix.

"There's not enough data to tell us how those drugs interact with," the enzyme that activates Plavix, said Mary Ross Southworth, FDA's deputy director for safety of cardiovascular products. "There are ongoing studies looking at those other drugs."

The FDA said the warnings on Plavix have been strengthened based on a 150-patient study submitted by Sanofi over the summer.

Information about the drug interaction between Plavix and certain heartburn medications is not new. Researchers reported last year that taking Plavix with Nexium significantly increased patients' chances of being hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or chest pain.

In January, Sanofi and Bristol-Myers updated Plavix's labeling to advise against using it in combination with certain heartburn drugs.

A Sanofi spokeswoman said Tuesday that the company has bolstered that language labeling.

"We've strengthened the label to say that these drugs should be avoided altogether, not just discouraged," said Noelle Boyd, Sanofi's senior communications director.

http://www.leaflady.org/Drugs.htm