Equipping People To Make Sense Of What They Are Told
Warfarin -An anticoagulant. This is a medicine that stops blood from clotting. It
may be given to people if they are at risk of developing a blood clot (thrombosis)
or if they have developed a clot and need treatment.
Warfarin may be used to treat and prevent the following health conditions:
Deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the veins of the legs).
Pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs).
Transient ischaemic attack (TIA or 'mini-stroke') or a stroke.
Heart attack.
What warfarin does:
The blood requires vitamin K to be able to clot. Warfarin slows the production of
vitamin K in the body, this increases the time it takes for blood to clot. Sometimes
described as 'thinning the blood'.
