Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 3 – six years to find the cause
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]
What’s in a name? – anticoagulant name meanings
It took Paul and I a long time to choose names for our kids. We wanted to find something we both liked and had some kind of meaning for us. Our eldest is called Joseph which means "God will add"; this turned out to be appropriate as we now have eight children! Drug companies too, spend a long while choosing the right name for their products. Do you know the meaning of the … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 2 – a milk churn of blood-that-would-not-clot
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 1 – Haemorrhagic Sweet Clover Disease
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct circumstances and … [Read more...]
Guess who’s 60?
It's Paul's 60th birthday today, and we're spending it with family in Australia, including Angela's parents, who at the ages of 84 and 86 are in the process of emigrating from the UK to NZ. But we're not quite vain enough to have a post just about Paul! It is also 60 years since the first publication about warfarin. On September 13th 1956, an article entitled "Coumadin … [Read more...]
Frivolous Friday – Blood related holiday highlights
Now that I write for Coagulation Conversation, I seem to notice blood-related topics everywhere. So these are four blood related aspects of our recent holiday to the European Haematology Association Conference. 1. Dracula's Cabaret I was busy looking through the Jetstar flight magazine to see what advice it had on exercise during flights, when instead I came across this … [Read more...]
Happy 100th Birthday Heparin!
It is one hundred years since the discovery of the blood thinning drug heparin, which is still used today. Jay McClean, who was a medical student at the time, presented a paper at the Society of the Normal and Pathological Physiology at the University of Pensylvania reporting his discovery of an anticoagulant extracted from liver, hence the name Heparin (Hepa meaning … [Read more...]
Frivolous Friday – Urine uses: Have you used this?
You might wonder, what is the link between urine, blood clotting, and my trip to Sweden? All will be revealed as we take a closer look at our urine. Surprisingly urine contains an important chemical called urokinase, that breaks down blood clots. While researching this post I was surprised to find out that urine has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. In an … [Read more...]