When is it necessary to thin the blood with medication?

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When is it necessary to thin the blood with medication?
When is it necessary to thin the blood with medication?
Anonim

Specialist cardiologists take the two concepts of "thick blood" and "blood thinning" lightly and even mockingly

Blood thickening occurs, for example, in such diseases as myeloma disease, polycythemia, etc.

They increase the density of the blood as a liquid. But basically, when you use the term "thick blood", you mean something else entirely. Remember: there may be no increase in blood density at all, but there may be an increased risk of blood clots.

Tendency to thrombus formation is not directly related to blood density and occurs for various reasons - presence of atherosclerotic plaques in the vessels; certain types of cardiac arrhythmias that contribute to blood clot formation (for example, atrial fibrillation and flutter); changes in the blood clotting system itself, both genetically determined and acquired.

The main danger of blood clots is the blockage of the blood vessel or where the blood flow has carried the blood clot. The thrombosis process itself is vital because nature has created this mechanism to protect us from massive blood loss when blood vessels are damaged. But in some diseases, this mechanism is sometimes activated where it is not needed and is harmful. However, nature did not foresee such "new" conditions and therefore acts blindly.

The task of medicine is to keep this process under control and not allow it to cause destructive consequences. As happens when thrombus formation is activated not where it is needed, and not when it is actually needed. For example, the rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque or erosion of its surface leads to the formation of a thrombus on the surface of this plaque.

The thrombus rapidly increases in size and if it blocks the blood vessel, it leads to a heart attack in the organ (most often myocardial infarction and stroke). A thrombus formed in the left atrium during atrial fibrillation (atrial fibrillation) when a fragment of it enters the bloodstream, moves along the vascular bed until it "gets stuck" in one of the vessels, blocks it and causes a heart attack of the relevant organ (most often of the brain, which means a stroke).

There are many drugs that affect the blood clotting system and reduce the risk of blood clots. Most of these drugs either decrease the ability of platelets to stick together or suppress the activity of dissolving protein substances in the blood involved in blood clotting. The first group of drugs is called "antiplatelet preparations", the second - "anticoagulants". Simply put, they "thin" the blood, although this is not literally the case.

The truth is that these drugs simply prevent the formation of blood clots. But lowering the risk of blood clots increases the risk of bleeding. There are special scales for assessing this risk, and the doctor is the one who assesses which drugs increase the risk of bleeding. In general, always before the appointment of any treatment, the benefit and the possible risk must be weighed. For this reason, in a number of cases, specialists temporarily refrain from prescribing antiplatelet preparations or anticoagulants.

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