Blood Thinners (and why they aren't)

[pellicle]

The medical people who continue to call AntiCoagulation Therapy "blood thinners" need to get with the late 20th C (let alone figure out we're in the 21st C now.

This is where blood thinners (that alter viscosity) come in

 

[LondonAndy]

I know I shouldn't be distracted by them, but does somebody make up these doctors' names?

Gregory Sloop, who the medical paper he co-authored says you can contact at bigdaddypathologist at gmail dot com
Gheorghe Pop

 

[pellicle]

I know I shouldn't be distracted by them, but does somebody make up these doctors' names?

As a hangover from my Japan daze I still have a valid email which in Japanese translates as fool.pornoOldUncle@...

 

[Timmay]

This is really cool. Now the question becomes “how to bloodlet safely?”

Looks like people on warfarin can’t give blood (here in the USA).

 

[carolinemc]

The medical people who continue to call AntiCoagulation Therapy "blood thinners" need to get with the late 20th C (let alone figure out we're in the 21st C now.

This is where blood thinners (that alter viscosity) come in

Oh please, stop the bashing. We call it what it is, still the same thing. I still call warfarin, blood thinner and still in the 21st century. Be nicer to people that still use the term. Okay. Be nice now, pellicle.

 

[pellicle]

Okay. Be nice now, pellicle.

its not a matter of being nice, its a matter of being correct, being accurate and being meaingful.

I know that for lay people that may not mean much when you can call a thing by multiple names, but its not appropriate for science nor medicine.

"we removed the gall bladder ... no wait was it the spleen? Well, we took out something gooey."

Maybe that level of medicine is ok for you where you come from.

 

[Timmay]

@carolinemc
Before I had surgery, I truly thought that blood thinners “thinned” the blood. I thought they lowered the viscosity. My cardiologist never told me what “blood thinners” actually were. Naturally, I assumed that they did what the name implies. I think most new people think the same thing when we call them “blood thinners”. I’ve asked quite a few people on a whim what they thought blood thinners were. Guess what? They thought the meds made your blood thinner.

For me, understanding what these meds actually do from the very start would have been better for me. This can be solved if the jargon being used is just changed to what it actually is Anti-coagulants … instead of clearly what it isn’t … blood thinners.

Terminology matters to a lot of us.

 

[vitdoc]

Most of us on anticoagulants know that they don’t “thin“ the blood. But when I ask patients if they are taking anticoagulants they often look at me with puzzled expressions. So I say blood thinners and they know right away what I am talking about. If anti coagulation pertains to their issues I explain that they inhibit clotting and don’t thin anything. Otherwise I bite my tongue and leave it as blood thinners.

 

[pellicle]

Otherwise I bite my tongue and leave it as blood thinners.

agreed ... but while you and I know these things we have

1. lurkers who don't
2. new members who don't
3. even old hands who should know but somehow havent' learned yet
4. most sadly even in hospitals

Simplifications have their place, but many people never really think past the simplification. Occasionally people use the simplification to follow and assumption based on it. Which is of course wrong because the simplification is not a foundation. So by posting things like this I hopefully spread some better knowledge. In my view education is an ongoing process.

Merry Santa Season btw

 

[Survived03]

Funny, most of my friends do not have a medical background. When I explain the difference between mechanical valve and bioprothesis and the pros and cons I say lifetime anticoagulants. I get a blank stare and find myself falling back to blood thinners.

 

[LondonAndy]

I will admit to having used the term "blood thinners" on occasion, but increasingly I try to avoid this. It feeds in to the misinformation about Warfarin that, in my view, creates unnecessary fear about being on it. For example, how many times have people said they feel colder because they are on Warfarin, because their blood is thinner? Or that stopping a bleed is almost impossible when on Warfarin. So I try to correct people more now.

 

[pellicle]

I will admit to having used the term "blood thinners" on occasion

sure ... me too ... but as I say in the post "the medical people ..." and worse, I know from experience taking to them they believe it thins the blood.

 

[Superman]

De-viscosinator.

 

[tom in MO]

Well Wiki disagrees: Anticoagulants, commonly known as blood thinners, are chemical substances that prevent or reduce coagulation of blood, prolonging the clotting time.[1]

Language is not static. There is no "right definition." Even in the days of printed dictionaries, they were updated every 5 years or so.

If one uses the term blood thinner and is understood by the person they are talking to...Score If one uses the term anticoagulant and the person does not understand that means warfarin, this could be a dangerous miscommunication.

 

[Superman]

If one uses the term blood thinner and is understood by the person they are talking to...Score If one uses the term anticoagulant and the person does not understand that means warfarin, this could be a dangerous miscommunication.

What if they understand each other and are both wrong?

 

[QuincyRunner]

In my experience the use of the term blood thinner or anticoagulant is not used in isolation and I often have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to inform others as to the difference and to the importance of being accurate. Besides that, isn't this site primarily for the purpose of education and don't we all agree that "words mean something?" There should be no disagreement about this.
And if I may address Carolinemc, if I were you I would not get into a tiff with Pellicle. You are in different classes.

 

[Survived03]

You can always throw this one out there for impact and response

https://www.pctonline.com/article/-rodent-control--warfarin--a-forgotten-weapon/

 

[ATHENS1964]

Α friend once asked me what are the anticoagulants I take and he said diluted ones, so he could understand I gave him the following example.
When we put alcohol in a bottle of water we prevent the water from becoming ice. The water does not freeze because of the alcohol and not because we diluted it with alcohol, if we diluted the water example with pepsi cola then the water would freeze.

 

[pellicle]

You can always throw this one out there for impact and response

my wife used to enjoy asking where the ratsak was when we were at the hardware shop ... then asking so, what is the amount of warfarin per pellet (confusing the poor shop person). If they asked "what's it for" she'd say "my husband, we're trying to save money"

 

[pellicle]

Α friend once asked me what are the anticoagulants I take and he said diluted ones, so he could understand I gave him the following example.
When we put alcohol in a bottle of water we prevent the water from becoming ice. The water does not freeze because of the alcohol and not because we diluted it with alcohol, if we diluted the water example with pepsi cola then the water would freeze.

You realise the errors in this metaphor right?