Blood Thinners

As many as one-third of women with ovarian cancer have high levels of platelets in their blood, which is linked to worse outcomes, researchers reported Wednesday. Platelets are components of cells that clump together to stop bleeding. Having an excessively high level of platelets is called thrombocytosis. Doctors have long known that thrombocytosis is associated with cancer. In the new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston analyzed data from 619 women with ovarian cancer.

The blood clot that led to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's hospitalization on Sunday is lodged in a vein behind her right ear, her doctors disclosed in a statement late Monday. The doctors said the clot, called a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis, was discovered Sunday when Clinton underwent an MRI as a "routine follow-up" to the treatment she has been receiving for a concussion. The vein runs between the brain and skull. Drs. Lisa Bardack with Mt. Kisco Medical Group and Gigi El-Bayoumi at George Washington University Hospital said in their statement that the clot was being treated with blood thinners.

Frostbite patients were able to keep more fingers and toes when their treatment included a drug that dissolves blood clots, according to a study published Monday. Surgeons at the University of Utah health center treated frostbite patients with the clot-busting drug called tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA. Six patients who received tPA kept 90% of affected fingers and toes, and 12 patients treated before the center began using tPA had 41% of their frostbitten digits amputated.

WASHINGTON - The blood clot that led to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's hospitalization on Sunday is lodged in a vein behind her right ear, her doctors disclosed in a statement late Monday. The doctors said the clot, called a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis, was discovered on Sunday when Clinton underwent an MRI as a “routine follow-up” to the treatment she has been receiving for a concussion. The vein runs between the brain and skull. Drs. Lisa Bardack with the Mt. Kisco Medical Group and Gigi El-Bayoumi at The George Washington University Hospital said in their statement that the clot is being treated with blood thinners.

For more than 50 years, warfarin has been used to prevent dangerous blood clots in people with a variety of medical conditions. But it's not an easy drug to take. The levels circulating in the blood can change rapidly depending on other medications, food, activity and illness; and frequent blood tests are required to make sure the dosage is adequate. And the drug, which is also used as rat poison, can be dangerous in high doses.

The Houston Rockets may start the National Basketball Assn. season without star center Akeem Olajuwon, who has been on blood thinners for 104 days to treat a blood clot in his left calf.

On the day before a doctor is expected to tell him whether his season is over, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen said he was calm. "Whatever the fact is, I will accept it," Jansen said. "You have to take care of your health first. " Jansen has taken blood thinners since he was hospitalized last week for treatment of an irregular heartbeat. If the doctor determines the blood thinners have resolved the issue, Jansen will be taken off the medication and could return as soon as Friday.

Drug interactions can lead to serious problems. Even taking something as seemingly benign as an over-the-counter cold medication could lead to an unpleasant, or dangerous, interaction with a so-routine-you-don't-even-think-about-it prescription drug. This panel of pharmacists can help sort out what drugs cause reactions and how to avoid unwanted ones. A live Web chat Thursday (noon EST, 11 a.m. CST, 9 a.m. PST) will feature Stefanie C. Nigro, assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy; Laura Hobbs, pharmacy clinical coordinator and director of the pharmacy residency program at Hartford Hospital; and Flora Harp, community practice resident for CVS/pharmacy.

The blood clot that led to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's hospitalization on Sunday is lodged in a vein behind her right ear, her doctors disclosed in a statement late Monday. The doctors said the clot, called a right transverse sinus venous thrombosis, was discovered Sunday when Clinton underwent an MRI as a "routine follow-up" to the treatment she has been receiving for a concussion. The vein runs between the brain and skull. Drs. Lisa Bardack with Mt. Kisco Medical Group and Gigi El-Bayoumi at George Washington University Hospital said in their statement that the clot was being treated with blood thinners.

Dabigatran (marketed as Pradaxa) is a new drug used by a growing number of Americans with atrial fibrillation. It's both easier to take and more effective at reducing the risk of stroke than warfarin, a drug that's been in use since the 1950s. But a case report published this week underscores a danger with the new medication: If a patient taking it is bleeding into the brain or elsewhere, there is currently no fast, effective way to reverse the blood-thinning agent's effects. For one 83-year-old man who was taken to the University of Utah Hospital's emergency department after falling and hitting his head, the result was death.

On the day before a doctor is expected to tell him whether his season is over, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen said he was calm. "Whatever the fact is, I will accept it," Jansen said. "You have to take care of your health first. " Jansen has taken blood thinners since he was hospitalized last week for treatment of an irregular heartbeat. If the doctor determines the blood thinners have resolved the issue, Jansen will be taken off the medication and could return as soon as Friday.

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has a blood clot in his right calf and is on blood thinners to dissolve the clot. The problem was discovered while he was being examined after injuring his knee during batting practice last week. Rivera will spend at least a week or two strengthening his knee before he has surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but he says that would have been the case regardless of the blood clot. Last week, Rivera said he was touched by the outpouring of support he received after the knee injury.

Dabigatran (marketed as Pradaxa) is a new drug used by a growing number of Americans with atrial fibrillation. It's both easier to take and more effective at reducing the risk of stroke than warfarin, a drug that's been in use since the 1950s. But a case report published this week underscores a danger with the new medication: If a patient taking it is bleeding into the brain or elsewhere, there is currently no fast, effective way to reverse the blood-thinning agent's effects. For one 83-year-old man who was taken to the University of Utah Hospital's emergency department after falling and hitting his head, the result was death.

As many as one-third of women with ovarian cancer have high levels of platelets in their blood, which is linked to worse outcomes, researchers reported Wednesday. Platelets are components of cells that clump together to stop bleeding. Having an excessively high level of platelets is called thrombocytosis. Doctors have long known that thrombocytosis is associated with cancer. In the new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston analyzed data from 619 women with ovarian cancer.

Drug interactions can lead to serious problems. Even taking something as seemingly benign as an over-the-counter cold medication could lead to an unpleasant, or dangerous, interaction with a so-routine-you-don't-even-think-about-it prescription drug. This panel of pharmacists can help sort out what drugs cause reactions and how to avoid unwanted ones. A live Web chat Thursday (noon EST, 11 a.m. CST, 9 a.m. PST) will feature Stefanie C. Nigro, assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy; Laura Hobbs, pharmacy clinical coordinator and director of the pharmacy residency program at Hartford Hospital; and Flora Harp, community practice resident for CVS/pharmacy.

Pfizer Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb said late Thursday that they were terminating a study of the experimental blood thinner apixaban prematurely because the drug was showing no benefits and was producing excess bleeding among patients receiving it. The study, called APPRAISE-2, was testing the drug in 10,800 patients with acute coronary syndrome, a group of problems characterized by chest pain caused by insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle....

"Grey's Anatomy" 9 p.m. Oct. 21, ABC Episode: "Almost Grown" The premise Chief of Surgery Dr. Richard Webber ( James Pickens Jr.) puts Seattle Grace Hospital's senior residents in charge for a day while he meets with the attendings about ways to spend a $1-million grant. Resident Jackson Avery ( Jesse Williams) places a shunt tube into a patient's brain to relieve pressure that is causing headaches and ringing in the ears, but when the tube slips, seasoned neurosurgeon Derek Shephard ( Patrick Dempsey)

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has a blood clot in his right calf and is on blood thinners to dissolve the clot. The problem was discovered while he was being examined after injuring his knee during batting practice last week. Rivera will spend at least a week or two strengthening his knee before he has surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but he says that would have been the case regardless of the blood clot. Last week, Rivera said he was touched by the outpouring of support he received after the knee injury.

An experimental blood thinner called rivaroxaban is at least as good at preventing strokes as the old warhorse warfarin, which has been used for decades in people with erratic heartbeats, researchers said Monday. The drug also sharply reduces the risk of major bleeding that is seen with warfarin. Rivaroxaban and the recently approved Pradaxa offer alternatives to the widely used warfarin, which frequently has unforeseeable interactions with food and people of certain genetic types and requires monthly laboratory tests to ensure safety.

For the estimated 2 million Americans with atrial fibrillation who take the blood thinner warfarin to reduce their risk of stroke, there's a new drug on the shelf ? the first in two decades. FOR THE RECORD An earlier online version of this article incorrectly said the rate of stroke among patients in a clinical trial comparing dabigatran and warfarin was 0.10% (1 in 1,000) per year for patients taking 150 milligrams of dabigatran and 0.38% (nearly 4 in 1,000) for those on warfarin.