Introduction
Anticoagulants are agents that are responsible in the reduction of blood clotting in an artery, vein or the heart. Undoubtedly, it helps reduce blood clotting in the blood vessels. Anticoagulants are usually administered to patients with venous thrombosis, peripheral arterial emboli, myocardial infarction, as well as, pulmonary emboli. On the other hand, they are used in the prevention of transient ischemic attacks, as well as, assist in the reduction of myocardial infarction recurrent. Blood clotting can cause blockage in the veins and the artery in the blood circulatory system. As such, it may cause blood flow to the brain, causing a stroke. As such, this paper seeks to effectively discuss anticoagulants as an imperative agent in any organism.
Anticoagulants in Blood
Anticoagulant medicines, on the other hand, function by interrupting the process that is involved in the blood clotting process. This implies that the blood clots are less likely to form in areas not needed in the body. Tentatively, Coumadin blocks the formation of vitamin K. Vitamin K is the dependent clotting factors in the liver. Vitamin k is naturally found in foods such as, green vegetables. There exist two types of coagulants namely endogenous and exogenous inhibitors.
Endogenous Inhibitors of Clotting
Thrombin plays an imperative role during blood coagulation. As a result, the body has several serine protease inhibitors that are responsible for the regulation of its activity. They include heparin cofactor II, antithrombin, proteinase inhibitor and macroglobulin.
Antithrombin is found in the blood plasma in considerable concentrations. Undoubtedly, antithrombin initially neutralizes the concentrations of thrombin and factor Xa. As such, antithrombin hampers the most dynamic serine protease that is present in the blood clotting system.
Thrombomodulin, on the other hand, is a cell membrane bound glycoprotein that parallels the vascular endothelium. As such, it specifically binds thrombin, converted into a form that has decreased ability to catalyze the blood clotting process.
Protein C is a plasma protein that limits the clotting process by being activated to protelytically inactive proaccelerin.
Exogenous Inhibitors of Clotting
There exist two coagulants: Warfarin and heparin.
Warfarin
This is commonly used anticoagulant prescribed, that is taken orally. As such, it disturbs alters the body’s natural chemical process. Warfarin, on the other hand, targets vitamin K, that is responsible for the blood clotting process. Tentatively, vitamin K is paramount as it plays a key role in the blood clotting process as it participates in prothrombin production. Prothrombin is a chemical that is found in an organism blood. It is essential in the formation of blood clots. As such, if vitamin K production is slowed down, the prothrombin production slows down. As a result the blood formation process is thus slowed down.
Heparin
Heparin is a compound that is naturally found in the body of an organism. Tentatively, its extraction and purification can result to its use as an anticoagulant medicine. Additionally, heparin inhibits the blood clotting process. Heparin may be administered to the body through a drip into the vein or injection into the organism. There exist varied types of heparin that include: dalteparin, tinzaparin, as well as, enoxaparin.
Certainly, normalization ratio is responsible for the dosage of warfare as it measures its ratio. As such, in the case where INR is too high, the blood clot will not form speedily. This may result to bruising or augmented bleeding (Beyth 1998). On the other hand, in the case of reduced or low INR it implies that the medication is not working properly. As a result, it implies that the clots may form and cause the vessel blockage.
Conclusively, the anticoagulants are responsible for the reduction or the slowing down of the clotting process. As such, they form an imperative compound in the clotting system in any organism. On the other hand, the dosage of selected anticoagulant should adhere to the INR ratio, as it affects the functioning of the blood clotting process.