Kcentra

The Kcentra dosage calculator can save you time when determining the recommended dose of Kcentra for your patients.

  Coag-Sense

This portable small size offers state-of-the-art features including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, Near Field Communication (NFC), and an easy to read color touchscreen. The system is designed for use in physician’s offices, laboratories, and patient home testing settings.

  mdINR

Home INR monitors are simple to use and provide accurate results. You don't need any medical experience or technology skills to perform the simple INR test. Real-time results allow immediate counselling and education without delay. All monitors are portable and include a carrying case.

  Acelis Connected Health

Learn how monitoring your own INR can set you free.

 Are the new blood thinners better than warfarin (Coumadin)?

DOACs have advantages over warfarin: they don't require regular blood tests, involve no food restrictions, and have fewer drug interactions. But, a major downside is cost, which is more than 20 times that of warfarin.

 Eat What You Love With Confidence

Acelis Connected Health’s mission is to support you every step of the way. Whether you’re just learning about warfarin for the first time, or you’re looking for delicious recipes that work with Vitamin K diets, this is the place for you.

KCentra, Have You Used it Before?

As the label shown above, Kcentra contains all 4 Vitamin-K dependent coagulation factors (II, VII, IX and X), and the Proteins C and S. These are the clotting factors which are inhibited by warfarin. There are several advantages of using it...

The Licorice Lowdown

If you have high blood pressure or heart disease, are taking diuretics or the blood thinner warfarin, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, your best bet is to avoid real licorice.

Warfarin, The Blood-Thinner That’s Still Used As A Rat Killer

Warfarin is derived from coumarin, a sweet-smelling anticoagulant (blood-clotting) chemical found naturally in sweet clover and many other plants. Sweet clover plant. Anita Gould/Flickr, CC BY-NC In 1954, warfarin was approved for clinical use and has remained a popular anticoagulant ever since. Today warfarin is one of the most widely prescribed oral anticoagulant drugs with around 1-2% of adults in the developed world prescribed the medication. Prior to its clinical application in the early 1950s, warfarin was used as a pesticide to kill rats and mice. It is still used for this purpose today.

Why we should avoid Warfarin to prevent stroke in atrial fibrillation

Warfarin's efficacy in preventing embolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) has been proven and its mechanism understood (3,4). However, apart from patient's risk of bleeding when using it, Warfarin has several shortcomings...

Antibiotic and Anticoagulation: Watching Warfarin Levels

Warfarin is metabolized by the cytochrome (CYP) P450 enzyme system, specifically, CYPs 1A2, 3A4, and 2C9.2 Medications that inhibit these CYP enzymes reduce warfarin's metabolism, increasing its effect, and increase INR. Medications that induce these CYP enzymes increase warfarin's metabolism, decreasing its therapeutic effect, and decrease INR. Medications can also directly affect the clotting cascade, induce warfarin's metabolism, or affect its protein binding.

Astounding Acts of Arrogance From the Makers of d-Con, Reckitt Benckiser

Another very disheartening aspect of the EPA's ruling last week is that loose pellets of rat poison will still be available for sale in agricultural areas, though, only in large quantities. It is hard to understand the logic behind this. Additionally, this ruling doesn't make mention of the first generation rodenticides, diphacinone, chloropacinone or warfarin which also cause the secondary and primary poisoning of wildlife and pets.

Blood Thinning With Warfarin (Coumadin)

Warfarin is a compound of significant medical importance. Over the last 40 years, thousands have used it, and used it safely and effectively, to prevent strokes, heart attacks, clots in the legs (deep venous thrombosis), clots to the lungs (pulmonary emboli), and other disorders. It decreases the tendency of the blood to clot, and is very potent in doing so. It is a medication that must be taken with great care . . . it's not difficult, but it is important to "follow the rules" to maximize the benefits and minimize the potential adverse reactions.

Can Mouse Poison Kill You?

Brodifacoum causes death in mice by thinning their blood so much that they hemorrhage. Products like d-Con mouse poison use brodifacoum because it doesn’t cause immediate death; as a result, mice are unable to associate the bait traps with their peers’ demise and keep going back for more. Also, because brodifacoum causes an unslakable thirst, mice often venture outside in search of water just before they die—which leaves homeowners with fewer rodent carcasses festering in their walls.

How to eat on Coumadin (warfarin)

The main dietary concern of taking warfarin (common brand name: Coumadin) has to do with the amount of vitamin K in your diet. Vitamin K changes the way warfarin affects the blood. When you eat foods that are high in vitamin K, you can decrease the effect of warfarin. Likewise, eating less vitamin K can increase the effect of the medication. The key is to try to eat a similar amount of foods that contain vitamin K each day. Don’t make any major changes to your diet without speaking with your doctor.

List of Acceptable Foods for Patients Taking Coumadin

While taking Coumadin, it is necessary to consume consistent amounts of vitamin K in your diet. The daily adequate intake of vitamin K for adult males is 120 micrograms; for adult females the adequate intake is 90 micrograms per day, according to the Institute of Medicine.

Patient’s Guide to Taking Coumadin/Warfarin

Unlike most medications that are administered as a fixed dose, warfarin dosing is adjusted according to the INR blood test results; therefore, the dose usually changes over time. Coumadin/warfarin pills come in different colors, and each color corresponds to a different dose.

Poor patient warfarin knowledge may increase risk of deadly side effects

Dr Oterhals concluded: "Warfarin is a life saving drug but can be deadly if not used carefully. Health professionals have a responsibility to educate patients but unfortunately even cardiac nurses do not know enough. There is an urgent need to improve health professionals' warfarin knowledge so they can educate patients."

Popular Blood Thinner Causing Deaths, Injuries at Nursing Homes

Some facilities fail to properly oversee Coumadin. Too much can cause bleeding; too little, clots. Nursing homes are “a perfect setup for bad things happening,” one expert says.

Warfarin to Treat Irregular Heartbeat May Up Stroke Risk At First: Study

Some patients with an irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation appear to have almost double the risk of a stroke in the first 30 days after starting treatment with warfarin — even though the anti-clotting drug is prescribed to prevent strokes, a study suggests.

Warfarin: Still the gold standard

Despite the new oral anticoagulants, warfarin remains the drug of choice, keeping the door open for point-of-care PT testing