What do anticoagulants do?
Anticoagultion is the treatment and prevention of blood clots. The medications used are called anticoagulants. The common anticoagulant pill prescribed is warfarin, also know as coumadin. The medication requires close monitoring and continuing patient education to avoid over anticoagulation, which can result in bleeding and under anticoagulation, which can cause harmful blood clots. Bloomington Hospital’s Anticoagulation Clinic assists physicians in monitoring the patient on anticoagulants and provides continuing education. How do I know if I need anticoagulation therapy? Anticoagulation may be prescribed by your physician if you are at risk of blood clots or have an existing blood clot. The reason for therapy is to prevent b blood clots from traveling to the lungs or the brain. Some common indications for anticoagulants are: • Blood clots in the legs; medical term “deep vein thrombosis” • Blood clots in the lungs; medical term “pulmonary embolus” • Irregular heart beat; medical term “
Anticoagulants are useful substances and medications, defined as “all possible compounds that do not allow blood to clot”. There are several groups of anticoagulants, and each has a different mechanism of action! Some of the most commonly used are drugs such as heparin and coumarin. This group of medications is usually administered to patients with myocardial infarction, venous thrombosis, peripheral arterial emboli and pulmonary emboli. Therefore, anticoagulants are not only extremely useful, but lifesaving because they are used to prevent transient ischemic attacks and to reduce the risk of recurrent myocardial infarction.
