Genetics play be a deciding factor in whether the anti-clotting drug Plavix works in patients with heart disease.
The drug, clopidogrel, is prescribed to help prevent blood clots. But, in some patients, the drug doesn't work, thus leaving patients at risk for stroke and heart attack.
Now, researchers at the University of Maryland think they know why.
After conducting a genome-wide association study of two populations, Pennsylvania Amish and Baltimore residents, scientists found a genetic variant that appears to play a major role in whether or not the body will respond to Plavix.
Researchers said in their study, published in JAMA, about 30-percent of the population has this genetic variant.
