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Warfarin for Deep Vein Thrombosis
How It Works
Normally, when an injury that causes bleeding occurs, the body sends out signals that cause blood to clot at the wound, and then the clot naturally breaks down as the wound heals. A person prone to abnormal clotting has an imbalance between clot formation and clot breakdown.
Warfarin prevents new clots from forming and prevents existing clots from growing by stopping the production of certain proteins that are needed for blood to clot. Warfarin does not break up or dissolve existing blood clots. Warfarin is a type of Reference anticoagulant Opens New Window medicine.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: May 14, 2012 |
| Medical Review: | Reference E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Reference Jeffrey S. Ginsberg, MD - Hematology |
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