Blood thinner (anticoagulant) can reduce the risk of a stroke by 50% to 60% for people who have atrial fibrillation.
Image: FDA
According to FDA, 2.7 million Americans have atrial fibrillation.
A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked by a clot, depriving brain cells of oxygen. In people with atrial fibrillation, blood flow is sluggish in the top chambers of the heart, and blood clots can form there. When a piece of a clot breaks off, it can travel to the brain and cause a stroke. That’s where blood thinners come in. Blood thinners, or anticoagulants, decrease the chances of blood clots forming in the heart, reducing the risk of stroke, the FDA explains.
But, FDA further says, as many as half of the people with atrial fibrillation who could benefit from a blood thinner don’t take them. There are two main reasons for this: Anticoagulants don’t affect how patients feel, and they can cause bleeding.
“Most drugs are used to improve how patients feel or function, but anticoagulants aren’t used this way. They are preventive drugs, used to prevent strokes in people who generally feel well,” says Ellis F. Unger, M.D., the Director of FDA’s Office of Drug Evaluation I in the Office of New Drugs.
“When treatment is successful, patients dramatically reduce their risk of experiencing a stroke, but the drugs don’t improve the symptoms of atrial fibrillation,” Unger adds.
“So patients don’t feel any noticeable benefit while taking them. But they are well aware of the downside of the drugs — their inconvenience, bleeding side effects, and cost. But when patients avoid anticoagulants for these reasons, they put themselves at risk of irreversible brain damage and disability. The benefit of a decreased risk of stroke clearly outweighs the risks and inconveniences of these drugs.”