All about Blood Thinners

Antiplatelets are a group of medicines (e.g. aspirin, clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor) that stop blood cells (called platelets) from sticking together and forming a blood clot.  While this is important to stop bleeding in case of an injury, it can be detrimental when occurring in vital blood vessels such the ones of the heart, the brain or the leg, leading to heart...

Anticoagulants are drugs (e.g. heparin, warfarin, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban) that interfere in the normal clotting process of your body lengthening the time needed to form a blood clot. In particular anticoagulants block one of the elements (proteins) of the clotting reaction. Decreased clotting prevents harmful blood clots from blocking major blood ve...

By thinning the blood, there is a higher risk for bleeding. During surgery this can be a problem. But that is only half the problem. The opposite is also true. If you stop blood thinners before surgery to prevent bleeding you can get a clot. All kinds of blood thinners (antiplatelets or anticoagulants) can be a problem during surgery. Depending on your risk profile, the seve...

1. Stick to a schedule and take your medicine at the same time each day.2. Do not double your dose if you missed one. Inform your doctor.3. Be more careful to avoid injuries4. Wear gloves when you use sharp objects5. Wear shoes to protect your feet ...

While warfarin (Coumadin) is the traditional well established anticoagulant, four new pills are currently available: apixaban (Eliquis), dabigatran (Pradaxa), Edoxaban (Savaysa), Rivaroxaban (Xarelto). Studies show that the latest drugs work as well as warfarin, however, we do not have enough data to rank these new pills from one to four.  No matter which...