How blood thinners protect you from heart attacks

HOW BLOOD THINNERS PREVENT HEART ATTACK, STROKE

Apart from blocking arteries in the heart, blood clots can easily float up to the brain and get stuck in the smaller blood vessels, causing brain strokes. If they block an artery in your lungs, they cause a condition called pulmonary embolism. With thinners, such episodes can’t happen.

ONE BLOOD THINNER AFTER A MONTH IS GOOD ENOUGH

While doctors usually prescribe dual blood thinners for 12 months after a procedure, Lancet researchers say patients can now safely stop taking one after a month without experiencing an increased risk of clotting or heart attack in the future. Patients usually need two drugs after angioplasty because a stent is a foreign body and your body would have to fight the tendency of clotting around it.

One of the drugs is aspirin, the second is the newer class of drugs called P2Y12 inhibitors. For a long time, we continued with aspirin as the primary drug and dropped the second. But with recent studies showing that the newer drug has 50 per cent lesser chance of bleeding and could reduce clotting just as effectively, most cardiologists have changed over to a safer protocol.

WHO NEEDS BLOOD THINNERS?

Apart from stenting, you may need a blood thinner if you have atrial fibrillation or irregular heartbeats in the upper chambers of your heart, which affect heart pumping and can lead to pooling of blood. Now this pool of blood can clot easily.

You will need blood thinners during a heart valve replacement surgery to avoid clot formation at the site of a new. Even hip and knee joint replacements can increase the risk of clots forming in veins in your leg. Thinners protect you against this. Sometimes, those with a genetic blood disorder, which accelerates clotting in some, need them.

DO NATURAL BLOOD THINNERS WORK?

Some natural substances, such as ginger, turmeric and cinnamon may help reduce the risk of clotting but they are unlikely to be as effective as prescription medication. They will not shrink an existing blood clot.

HOW TO HAVE THEM SAFELY?

Blood thinners sometimes interact with certain foods, medicines, vitamins, and alcohol. Your cardiologist will prescribe them to you after going through your medical history. So follow his protocol strictly and don’t stop taking them. You may need blood tests to check how your blood is clotting and your doctor will decide on dosage.

DO YOU NEED TO STOP THEM DURING OTHER SURGICAL PROCEDURES?

With bleeding suitably minimised in the newer class of drugs and lower dose aspirin, and given your other parameters are fine, you may not need to stop them for minor procedures like tooth extraction or cataract. For others, you need to stop use.