What anticoagulants are used for

Anticoagulants medicines are used if your blood is clotting too quickly. When this happens, blood clots can form in the wrong places. These clots can break off and block a blood vessel, disrupting the flow of blood around your body.

This can lead to several serious medical conditions, including:

• strokes: when a blood clot restricts the flow of blood to your brain, causing brain cells to die and possibly resulting in permanent brain damage or death


• transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs): or “mini-strokes”, with symptoms similar to a stroke, but the effects usually only last 24 hours


• heart attacks: when a blood clot blocks part of your heart, starving it of oxygen and causing chest pain and sometimes death


• deep vein thrombosis (DVT): when a blood clot forms in one of the deep veins in your body, usually your legs, causing pain and swelling


• pulmonary embolism: when a blood clot blocks one of the blood vessels around the lungs, stopping the supply of blood to your lungs

If you are at risk of any of the above conditions, for example if you have had one before, you may be prescribed anticoagulant medicines to reduce your chance the condition reoccurring.

Aspirin and clopidogrel are anti-platelet medicines that also reduce the ability of the blood to clot. In some cases, one of the above conditions may be treated with aspirin or clopidogrel instead. The healthcare professionals treating you will explain to you which medication is most suitable.

Some other conditions make you more prone to developing blood clots. For example, atrial fibrillation, a heart condition that causes episodes of irregular and abnormally fast heart rates, can lead to blood clots forming in the heart. If you have atrial fibrillation, you may be prescribed anticoagulants to prevent blood clots forming.

After surgery

You may be prescribed an anticoagulant or an antiplatelet agent if you have recently undergone some kinds of surgery, for example aortic valve replacement. Your aortic valve is a valve in your heart that controls the flow of blood out to the rest of your body. This valve can become damaged as you age, and in some people it is replaced with a man-made valve.

Blood clots can form on the surface of the new valve, which could disrupt the flow of blood through your heart. Anticoagulant medicines can reduce the risk of this happening by making it harder for your blood to clot.

Some kinds of surgery have a long recovery period, which may mean you that you are immobile for a long period of time. Being immobile can increase your risk of developing DVT or pulmonary embolism. If you are at risk of either of these, you may be given a low dose of the anticoagulant medicine heparin, to prevent these conditions developing.

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What anticoagulants are used for

Categories: anticoagulant medicines, aortic valve, atrial fibrillation, blood clot, blood clots, clot blocks, clots forming, Pulmonary Embolism

A pulmonary embolism is a blockage caused in one of the arteries in the lungs. It generally occurs when arterial plaque or a clot breaks away from the veins in the legs. The clots that form in the legs are known as deep vein thrombosis and can cause a great deal of pain and discomfort to sufferers. The conditions aren’t uncommon but they’re also not to the norm however, in a recent study in the Netherlands, researchers have been trying to show the link between a higher chance of a pulmonary embolism and the common respiratory condition, asthma. This research could be very bad news for asthmatics as pulmonary embolisms are dangerous and can, in the worst circumstances, be deadly. The study involved 650 subjects between the ages of 18 and 88 each of whom had asthma. It was shown that those who suffered from a severe version of the respiratory disorder were as much as nine times more likely to get a pulmonary embolism and that those who suffered from the more moderate form of asthma were at a 3.5 times higher risk rate. Bad news in general for asthmatics but good news in the respect that, now this connection has been made, asthmatics and their health-care professionals can plan ahead. With all diseases, the severe and the not-so-severe, patients stand a much better chance of beating them if they’re caught early. A pre-warning could be all it takes to ensure an asthmatic takes the step to negate their pulmonary embolism. This research is particularly interesting as it’s the first time this link has been made. Doctors are likely to start making use of it soon and it’s likely that various follow up studies into similar areas will be started soon. Watch this space and let’s see if asthma can’t warn patients of other conditions too! The truth about legs, lungs and pulmonary embolisms…

A pulmonary embolism is a blockage caused in one of the arteries in the lungs. It generally occurs when arterial plaque or a clot breaks away from the veins in the legs. The clots that form in the legs are known as deep vein thrombosis and can cause a great deal of pain and discomfort to sufferers. The conditions aren’t uncommon but they’re also not to the norm however, in a recent study in the Netherlands, researchers have been trying to show the link between a higher chance of a pulmonary embolism and the common respiratory condition, asthma.

This research could be very bad news for asthmatics as pulmonary embolisms are dangerous and can, in the worst circumstances, be deadly. The study involved 650 subjects between the ages of 18 and 88 each of whom had asthma.

It was shown that those who suffered from a severe version of the respiratory disorder were as much as nine times more likely to get a pulmonary embolism and that those who suffered from the more moderate form of asthma were at a 3.5 times higher risk rate. Bad news in general for asthmatics but good news in the respect that, now this connection has been made, asthmatics and their health-care professionals can plan ahead. With all diseases, the severe and the not-so-severe, patients stand a much better chance of beating them if they’re caught early. A pre-warning could be all it takes to ensure an asthmatic takes the step to negate their pulmonary embolism.

This research is particularly interesting as it’s the first time this link has been made. Doctors are likely to start making use of it soon and it’s likely that various follow up studies into similar areas will be started soon. Watch this space and let’s see if asthma can’t warn patients of other conditions too!

The truth about legs, lungs and pulmonary embolisms…

Categories: Asthma, Information, Pulmonary Embolism