blood disorders
How Blood Clots
Medications and blood clots
The relationship between medications and the body's ability to control bleeding (hemostasis) is complicated. The body's ability to form blood clots is vital to hemostasis, but too much clotting increases the risk of a Acute Coronary Syndromes (Heart Attack; Myocardial Infarction; Unstable Angina) , Some people are at high risk of forming blood clots and are intentionally given medications to decrease the risk. Medications may be given that reduce the stickiness of platelets, so that they will not clump together to block a blood vessel.Aspirin,ticlopidine,clopidogrel,prasugrel,abciximab, andtirofibanare examples of medications that interfere with the activity of platelets. Other people at risk of forming blood clots may be given an Anticoagulation , a medication that inhibits the action of blood proteins called clotting factors. Although often called "blood thinners," anticoagulants do not really thin the blood. Commonly used anticoagulants are People who takewarfarinorheparinmust be under close medical supervision. Doctors monitor the effects of these medications with blood tests that measure the time it takes for a clot to form, and they adjust the dose on the basis of test results. Doses that are too low may not prevent clots, while doses that are too high may cause severe bleeding. Other types of anticoagulants, such as a class of medications called low-molecular-weightheparins(such asdalteparin,enoxaparin, and tinzaparin), do not require as much supervision. People taking DOACs do not require frequent laboratory testing of coagulation. If a person already has a blood clot, a thrombolytic (fibrinolytic) medication can be given to help dissolve the clot. Thrombolytic medications, which include streptokinase and tissueplasminogenactivators, are sometimes used to treat heart attacks and strokes caused by blood clots. These medications may save lives, but they can also put the person at risk of severe bleeding.Heparin, a medication given to reduce the risk of clot formation, sometimes has an unintended, paradoxical activating effect on platelets that increases the risk of clotting (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia-thrombosis). Estrogen, alone or in oral contraceptives, can have the unintended effect of causing excessive clot formation. Certain medications used to treat cancer (chemotherapy drugs), such as asparaginase, can also increase the risk of clotting. 