Medical Information

If you have been diagnosed with a blood clot or are at risk of developing one, a medication named oral anticoagulants (e.g. warfarin) may be prescribed as part of your treatment to prevent blood clots.

Oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) with drugs like warfarin has been used for more than 60 years to prevent blood from clotting inside the heart or in blood vessels. In spite of a wide spectrum of newer drugs available on the market, scientific studies with warfarin has repeatedly proven this drug as most effective for several applications and it has also been verified as a drug with remarkably few side effects.
Utilizing the correct intensity of a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) and maintaining the patient in the therapeutic range are two of the most important determinants of its effectiveness and safety.

Depending on your condition, you may need to take oral anticoagulants for a few weeks, months, or sometimes for the rest of your life.

Oral Anticoagulants are increasingly prescribed

More and more people will require life-long oral anticoagulation as a result of various medical conditions.
In 2006, over 6 million people worldwide were taking long term oral anticoagulants, and this number is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, mainly because of an ageing population.

While taking oral anticoagulants you will find in the next pages a few things about them you will need to know.