NHS: "A heart drug taken by 250,000 Britons can actually hasten death,"
the Mail Online warns today. An analysis of previous research on
digoxin, used to treat heart failure and heart rhythm abnormalities,
suggests that it can raise the risk of premature death. The analysis pooled the results of 19 different studies investigating whether digoxin – used in the treatment of heart failure and atrial fibrillation – increases the risk of death from any cause. Overall, the review found that people taking digoxin had a 21% higher
risk of death from any cause compared to people not taking the drug. The risk increase was slightly higher for people taking digoxin for atrial fibrillation (29%) than for heart failure (14%).
