Now, in an unexpected twist, a string of laboratory and genetic findings suggest that an old class of asthma drugs called leukotriene inhibitors might also help prevent heart attacks.

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In his JAMA commentary, Nissen writes that Pfizer's drug may help prevent heart attacks not only by lowering bad cholesterol but also by cutting another heart attack risk: inflammation in the arteries.

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Last year, researchers published a study suggesting the device could help prevent small heart attacks that occasionally occur in about 10% of procedures when stents are deployed to prop open diseased coronary arteries.

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Niacin has been used for many years in the belief that it would help patients and prevent heart attacks and stroke, but we now know that its adverse side effects outweigh the benefits when used with current treatments.

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These medications help reduce the workload on your heart while you recover and may help prevent further attacks.

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We now know how to prevent heart attacks, and how to help patients survive when they have them, but it helps to be an informed consumer.

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It showed that an aspirin a day reduces the incidence of heart attacks by half, and that the drug can also help to prevent thrombosis and strokes.

ECONOMIST: An aspirin a day keeps the doctor at bay

There is still a long way to go before millions of patients take 301012 to prevent heart attacks--although the drug could be on the market to help some exceptionally sick people in just a few years.

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