Anticoagulants are popularly called blood thinners, although they do not thin blood. Instead, they prevent blood clotting by inhibiting clotting factor synthesis, inhibiting thrombin or by interfering with blood platelet formation. They will not dissolve a clot that has already formed. Used to help lessen high blood pressure and help prevent heart attacks and strokes, they can also have negative side effects.
Antiplatelet Action
An antiplatelet medication has the effect of interfering with blood platelet formation. Stopping clotting action through platelet formation can be helpful in preventing harmful clotting that could cause a stroke or heart attack. MayoClinic.com recommends chewing and swallowing an aspirin if someone experiences heart attack symptoms. Other antiplatelet drugs include ticlopidine, clopidogrel, tirofiban and eptifibatide.
Inhibiting Thrombin
A thrombin inhibitor stops blood clot formation by this clotting protein in the bloodstream. This has the effect of avoiding thrombosis, a plugging of blood vessels with clots that stop blood flow to vital organs. The Thrombin Domain website states that thrombosis is a cause of stroke and coronary infarction, the number one killer in the Western hemisphere. Heparin and lepirudin are drugs that interfere with blood clot formation by thrombin.
Liver Clotting Effects
Anticoagulants that have the effect of stopping blood clot formation by liver action are called clotting factor synthesis inhibitors. Warfarin is one well-known drug that has the effect of stopping blood clotting by liver action, according to the Surgery Encyclopedia. It acts by inhibiting vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors in the bloodstream.
Hemorrhagic Stroke
A side effect of taking anticoagulants like aspirin is the possibility of a hemorrhagic stroke. Also called a bleeding stroke, MayoClinic.com says that while aspirin can have the good effect of preventing a clot-related stroke, it can also have the negative side effect of increased risk for bleeding stroke.
Gastrointestinal Bleeding
Anticoagulants can cause stomach bleeding by forming stomach ulcers. If a stomach ulcer is already present, anticoagulants may increase the bleeding from that ulcer. Such bleeding can be life-threatening, according to MayoClinic.com.
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