Write An Essay On Anticoagulant Therapy

To slow the rate at which blood clots in a patient, a doctor may or may not administer a course of anticoagulant therapy. Anticoagulant therapy is a course of drugs taken by the patient, who might have one or more cardiovascular diseases, to prevent clots from forming. The most common use for anticoagulants is atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm [7]. They’re also administered for patients who have mechanical heart valves or patients who have blood clots [7]. There are many types of anticoagulants used, most commonly administered was Warfarin (Coumadin) [5]. However, due to recent advances in medicine many new anticoagulants have surfaced such as Apixaban, Dabigatran, Edoxaban, Rivaroxaban and many others [4]. Practitioners have more

Which in turn leads to a decrease of this gamma carboxy-glutamic acid which leads to a suppression of clotting factors [3]. They are referred to as blood thinners because blood that can’t clot as easily is commonly referred to as thin. When administering these drugs, the practitioner must consider the patient’s underlying disease and the risks and benefits of the medication. There are many negative side effects of anticoagulation therapy and one major side effect is bleeding. For Coumadin, research has shown every patient who is on this medication there is a 1% or 2% chance of bleeding per year. Some patients may be on these medications for years or decades, thus greatly increasing the risk of bleeding [6]. The risk of bleeding is considered the biggest concern with taking blood thinners because the body might not be able to clot enough when it needs to, causing unwanted or frequent bleeding [6]. Also, patients on blood thinners might be taking other medications. One potential risk is the adverse interactions blood thinners might have with other drugs taken by the