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An anticoagulant, commonly known as a blood thinner, is a chemical substance that prevents or reduces the coagulation of blood, prolonging the clotting time. [1] Some occur naturally in blood-eating animals, such as leeches and mosquitoes, which help keep the bite area unclotted long enough for the animal to obtain blood.
Prior to the introduction of direct factor Xa inhibitors, vitamin K antagonists such as warfarin were the only oral anticoagulants for over 60 years, and together with heparin have been the main blood thinners in use. People admitted to hospital requiring blood thinning were started on an infusion of heparin infusion, which thinned blood ...
Drug delivery to the brain is the process of passing therapeutically active molecules across the blood–brain barrier into the brain.This is a complex process that must take into account the complex anatomy of the brain as well as the restrictions imposed by the special junctions of the blood–brain barrier.
Warfarin should not be given to people with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia until platelet count has improved or normalised. [39] Warfarin is usually best avoided in people with protein C or protein S deficiency, as these thrombophilic conditions increase the risk of skin necrosis, which is a rare but serious side effect associated with ...
Coagulation can physically trap invading microbes in blood clots. Also, some products of the coagulation system can contribute to the innate immune system by their ability to increase vascular permeability and act as chemotactic agents for phagocytic cells. In addition, some of the products of the coagulation system are directly antimicrobial.
An antithrombotic agent is a drug that reduces the formation of blood clots (). [1] [2] Antithrombotics can be used therapeutically for prevention (primary prevention, secondary prevention) or treatment of a dangerous blood clot (acute thrombus).
Anticoagulants are considered more aggressive than antiplatelet drugs. [34] Anticoagulants work by interfering with various clotting factors to lengthen the time for coagulation. This can be achieved by either reducing the formation of bioactive clotting factors or accelerating the inactivation of clotting factors.
Apixaban, sold under the brand name Eliquis, is an anticoagulant medication used to treat and prevent blood clots and to prevent stroke in people with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation through directly inhibiting factor Xa.