Every minute counts when a heart attack is suspected. If you don’t get the right treatment quickly, you can die in the worst case.
This week, the drug Coxor will be available in all Norwegian pharmacies. It is a new medicine for the rapid treatment of heart attacks and can be bought without a prescription.
The medicine contains acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). It is a blood-thinning agent that can help maintain the blood supply to the heart.
The medicine Coxor is a small container the size of a lipstick and is liquid.
CONTRIBUTE: Senior doctor Sigurd Hortemo says that Coxor can help make a heart attack less serious. Photo: Norwegian Medicines Agency
– Call 113 first
If you suspect a heart attack, you can take this “shot”. But call 113 and consult with them first, says senior physician Sigurd Hortemo in the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
If it is not possible to call 113, if you lack telephone coverage, for example, you can take the medicine as soon as possible. It is not dangerous to take the medicine if you have not had a heart attack after all.
– The medicine helps to prevent further blood clot formation. It can help make heart attacks less serious, says Hortemo.
The previous rapid treatments have been in pill form. Swallowing or chewing dry a pill can be difficult with chest pain and without easy access to water in an emergency situation.
According to medical specialist director Steinar Madsen at the Norwegian Medicines Agency, a significant proportion of those who suffer a heart attack die while waiting for medical help.
– Access to such a solution is beneficial and will be able to save lives, he told NTB in January.
This is what you should know about heart attacks
- A heart attack is caused by a blood clot forming in one of the heart’s blood vessels.
- Symptoms of a heart attack include severe chest pain that lasts for several minutes, often radiating to one or both arms and to the neck/lower jaw and nausea and vomiting.
- Do you have these symptoms? Call 113.
- The average age for a heart attack is 65 years for men and 72 years for women. Heart attacks before menopause are very rare in women.
- Smoking is one of the risk factors for heart attack, because it narrows the blood vessels.
- Eating healthy and being physically active reduces the risk of heart attack.
Source: Helsenorge and NHI
– Should have the medicine available
Madsen recommends that everyone in the risk zone, especially people over the age of 65, have painkillers with acetylsalicylic acid available (such as Aspirin), especially in situations where it may take time before you get help from healthcare personnel.
FOR DEER: Coxor contains acetylsalicylic acid, a blood thinner. Photo: Ditlev Eidsmo / TV 2
Hortemo says that the Norwegian Medicines Agency has no official recommendation that everyone over the age of 65 should purchase the medicine.
– But it is an advantage to have acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) available if you have a heart attack, he says.
The association for heart and lung disease (LHL), on the other hand, is far more clear than the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
– I would recommend that those over 65 have it available, says general secretary Frode Jahren.
– It is because some have to wait a long time for the ambulance, and some die before the ambulance arrives. Some of the deaths could have been prevented if people had carried this with them. If they survive, they will be able to receive less damage, says Jahren.
CLEAR MESSAGE: General Secretary Frode Jahren believes that everyone over the age of 65 should have Coxor available. Photo: LHL
He himself will buy a bottle, which he will not only have at home, but with him in his jacket pocket.
– You are not necessarily at home when you have a heart attack. If you are at the cabin or elsewhere and it is a long time before the ambulance arrives, it is at least useful to have the medicine with you, says Jahren.
Just over 10,000 people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2021, according to The Institute of Public Health. Most people who have a heart attack are over 65.
Mortality from acute heart attacks has more than halved between 2000 and 2020.
