About Anticoagulants

If your doctor feels you are at risk of developing blood clots, she may suggest an anticoagulant medication. A blood clot, also known as thrombus, occurs as a result of hardened or "coagulated" blood. An anticoagulant medication can help reduce the likelihood that the presence of a blood clot will lead to a life-threatening condition.

• Anticoagulants prevent blood clots.

What Is an Anticoagulant?

• An anticoagulant is a medication that prevents dangerous clotting in the blood. According to the American Heart Association, anticoagulants not only can prevent the development of new blood clots, but can also help to inhibit an older clot from getting any bigger than it already is.

How Anticoagulants Work

• The U.S. National Library of Medicine explains that when a blood clot leaves the heart or a blood vessel and enters another area of the body, it is called an embolism. An embolism can be life-threatening, but an anticoagulant can help to prevent it from getting any larger and affecting blood flow to vital organs. Blood clots need the presence of 12 factors to actually grow and develop. A deficiency of just one of these factors can prevent the process from occurring. Anticoagulants prevent the formation of thrombin, which is one of the 12 factors and a crucial one at that.

Types of Anticoagulants

• Heparin is one of the most common types of anticoagulants and is usually reserved for life-threatening blood-clot cases. The medication is usually administered by injection. Oral anticoagulants such as those which block vitamin K (a necessary clotting factor) are also common forms of blood-clot inhibitors. Oral coagulants are often prescribed to patients at risk of pulmonary embolism and DVT (deep vein thrombosis). According to Virginia Commonwealth University, "direct thrombin inhibitors" (DTIs) are anticoagulants that directly target thrombin. DTIs are prescribed for the prevention of stroke and as a treatment medication for patients suffering from venous thromboembolic disease.

Who Should Take an Anticoagulant?

• The American Stroke Association explains that anticoagulant medications are usually prescribed to patients who have suffered a stroke that was a directly related to a blood clot that developed in the heart (coronary embolism). Patients who experience easy clotting and those that live with blockages that cannot be resolved with surgery are also candidates for anticoagulant medications.

What About Antiplatelet Medications?

• Unlike anticoagulants that work against clot factors, antiplatelet medications prevent platelets from binding together and forming clots. According to the Internet Stroke Center, blood platelets are cells that clump together in the presence of plaque (a derivative of cholesterol). Antiplatelet medications such as aspirin can stop the progression of a stroke and even prevent one from happening in the first place. Unfortunately, patients who have a history of liver or kidney disease are not candidates for antiplatelet medications because of the negative effects that they have on these organs. Antiplatelet medications are also not recommended for patients diagnosed with ulcers, bleeding problems, asthma or hypertension.