For the study, researchers examined the health data of 30,146 patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation — an abnormal heart rhythm that causes blood flow issues, which can incite blood clots and subsequent stroke. After adjusting for age, sex, lifestyle and other risk factors, researchers found patients taking aspirin or direct oral anticoagulants like rivaroxaban and dabigatran had double the risk for acute myocardial infarction — heart attack — as patients taking vitamin k antagonists.
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“More research should be on-going as use of direct acting oral anticoagulants increases in the population,” wrote the study’s authors.
The CDC estimates 2.7 to 6.1 million people in the United States have atrial fibriallation. As the U.S. population ages, this number will likely increase.
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