Platelet Disorders—Blood Thinners

Also called: Anti-platelet drugs, Anticoagulants

Blood thinners are medicines that prevent blood clots from forming. They also keep existing blood clots from getting larger. Clots in your arteries, veins, and heart can cause heart attacks, strokes, and blockages. You may take a blood thinner if you have

• Certain heart or blood vessel diseases
• An abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation
• A heart valve replacement
• A risk of blood clots after surgery
• Congenital heart defects

There are two main types of blood thinners. Anticoagulants such as heparin or warfarin (also called Coumadin) slow down your body’s process of making clots. Antiplatelet drugs, such as aspirin, prevent blood cells called platelets from clumping together to form a clot.

When you take a blood thinner, follow directions carefully. Blood thinners may interact with certain foods, medicines, vitamins, and alcohol. Make sure that your healthcare provider knows all of the medicines and supplements you are using. You will probably need regular blood tests to check how well your blood is clotting. It is important to make sure that you’re taking enough medicine to prevent clots, but not so much that it causes bleeding.

• Aspirin and heart disease (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Clopidogrel (Plavix) (Medical Encyclopedia)
• How to give a heparin shot (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Taking warfarin (Coumadin) (Medical Encyclopedia)

Also called: Thrombocyte disorders

Platelets are little pieces of blood cells. Platelets help wounds heal and prevent bleeding by forming blood clots. Your bone marrow makes platelets. Problems can result from having too few or too many platelets, or from platelets that do not work properly.

If your blood has a low number of platelets, it is called thrombocytopenia. This can put you at risk for mild to serious bleeding. If your blood has too many platelets, you may have a higher risk of blood clots. With other platelet disorders, the platelets do not work as they should. For example, in von Willebrand Disease, the platelets cannot stick together or cannot attach to blood vessel walls. This can cause excessive bleeding.

Treatment of platelet disorders depends on the cause.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

• Bleeding time (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Congenital platelet function defects (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Glanzmann disease (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Partial thromboplastin time (PTT) (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Platelet aggregation test (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Primary thrombocythemia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Purpura (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Thrombocytopenia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Thromobocytopenia – drug-induced (Medical Encyclopedia)