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 4 – rat poison
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...]
Are you on the red or blue (blood clot) team?
This website mostly covers the blue (blood clot) team, that is clots that occur in the venous system, like DVT or PE. However the last two diagnosis posts covered stroke and heart attack which happen when clots occur in arteries, so the red (blood clot) team. I thought it might be a good idea to compare and contrast the two teams. You will note that I haven't kept to the … [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...]
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...]
More good news about stroke and warfarin
You probably already know that if you have atrial fibrillation (AF), then taking warfarin means you have a lower risk of stroke. But did you know there are two other benefits? If you have AF and you're taking warfarin, but are still unlucky enough to have an ischaemic stroke, then compared to people not on warfarin: - You are likely to have milder effects … [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...]
Secret side-effects of anticoagulants – do you have them?
'Secret' side-effects are those you're not likely to chat to your friends about. Your doctors however, will have heard it all before, so don't hesitate to share your symptoms with them! It was very hard to find pictures to accompany this post, which made me realise just how socially unacceptable these topics are. If you've had any of these side-effects, perhaps this post … [Read more...]
Pharmacy Fashion – could you make this dress?
On our recent visit to Copenhagen for the European Haematology Association conference, I visited the Copenhagen medical museum. This was an amazing place, but what impacted me most of all was the dress that was displayed in the foyer. The dress is composed of 27,774 tablets and capsules, representing the pills a woman with metabolic syndrome might take over 10 … [Read more...]
Medical Journal – AF – How many pills?
Researchers looked at 18,201 people with atrial fibrillation, AF, and found the average number of drugs each person took was six, with 76.5% of people taking six or more drugs. Most of these drugs are not for their AF but for their other medical conditions. More than three quarters of patients with AF take six or more drugs. This is a worrying finding, as polypharmacy … [Read more...]