Warfarin Increases Stroke Risk
Written By: FoodConsumer.org
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Published - Sep 30, 2008
People who took the clot-preventing drug warfarin (Coumadin) were at higher risk of stroke, according to a new study.
Dr. Daniel Woo, co-author of the study, at the University of Cincinnati said in the Sep 30 2008 issue of Neurology that the risk of death from stroke had early been found greater in people taking warfarin.
Research had not revealed an increase in the risk is due to increased bleeding in the brain until after Dr. Woo conducted the current study.
In the study of 258 people who had brain hemorrhages or bleeding, the researchers found a larger volume of hemorrhage in those patients using warfarin.
However, the extra bleeding was found only in those warfarin users with an international normalized ratio or INR of 3 or greater.
INR is a measure of the ability of the blood to clot properly. Anything bigger than 2 is abnormal.
Warfarin is indicated to keep the INR between 2 and 3. The study found if the INR was between 1.2 and 3, there was no significant increase in the volume of hemorrhage.
The risk can't be predicted based on the value of the INR because the INR varies from person to person.
There seemed to be a dilemma. "If it is too high, you run the risk of hemorrhage. If it is too low, you run the risk of whatever it is you are trying to prevent in the first place," was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Warfarin is used to prevent blood clots which could otherwise lead to blockage type of stroke. But if the clotting ability is reduced too much, patients would have higher risk of bleeding in the brain.