Two important findings from a medical journal show that if you have a high risk of blood clots you should maintain a heart healthy lifestyle This is obviously good advice for everyone but when you read some of the statistics from the article it will emphasis the importance if you're at high clot risk. The risk of having a PE was 2.9 times higher in obese women than those … [Read more...]
Virchows triad – NOT an acrobatic troupe!
I remember sitting in pathology lectures as a medical student, trying to learn the name of yet another famous Victorian physician and wishing that they had been involved in something other than the study of what causes disease. I would have liked it if Virchow’s triad referred to an acrobat troupe, but instead, as was drummed into us, it stands for three classic risk factors … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 4 – rat poison
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]
Are you on the red or blue (blood clot) team?
This website mostly covers the blue (blood clot) team, that is clots that occur in the venous system, like DVT or PE. However the last two diagnosis posts covered stroke and heart attack which happen when clots occur in arteries, so the red (blood clot) team. I thought it might be a good idea to compare and contrast the two teams. You will note that I haven't kept to the … [Read more...]
Frivolous Friday – resuscitation humour
When you're in the midst of resuscitating someone, it is obviously not frivolous. But these videos show there can be humour in everything. Please review our post on resuscitation, to be sure you know what to do if you're in a situation where someone's heart has stopped. Then you can reinforce your knowledge as you sit back and enjoy these three videos. 1. Even babies can … [Read more...]
World Heart Day
World Heart Day was founded in 2000 by the World Heart Federation to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Coagulation conversation usually concentrates on blood clots in the venous system (VTE - venous thrombo-embolism) but blood clots also occur in arteries causing heart disease and stroke (CVD). CVD is the world’s number one killer. Each year, it’s … [Read more...]
Warfarin History 3 – six years to find the cause
Like the plot of a movie... Warfarin has been used as a medication for more than 60 years. The discovery of Warfarin is interesting and sounds a bit like the plot of a movie; it includes a president, dead cattle, an attempted suicide and rat poison. Like many scientific discoveries of the last century it involved some serendipity, good fortune, the correct … [Read more...]
Cardiac arrest -What you MUST know
To go along with our posts about heart attack, we thought it was important to cover the basics of what to do if someone's heart has stopped. It is worth revisiting this again and again so that if you ever find yourself in an emergency situation you react automatically. You'll see how important this was in the second video below, where people are treating their … [Read more...]
Reaching your diagnosis – heart attack
In this Medical Monday series, we’re talking about how your doctor reaches a diagnosis of common conditions associated with coagulation. It may help if you first read the introduction, before reading about today's topic of heart attack. Altogether we’re covering Introduction DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis Post-thrombotic syndrome PE, Pulmonary Embolism … [Read more...]
World Pharmacists day – thank you!!
This cartoon by Ed Tan, an Australian pharmacist who produces a blog 'Ed's rant', sums up how pharmacists can be undervalued by patients and other health professionals. Did you know a pharmacy degree takes 4 years followed by 52 weeks as an intern? In NZ, pharmacy can only be studied in Dunedin and Auckland. INR Online (funder of this blog) produces the software for … [Read more...]
