Can Warfarin reduce the risk of stroke? - Dr Arvind Chandratheva

Warfarin or anticoagulation is a big topic and it's constantly changing as there's lots of new information about it. We're really moving away from warfarin towards novel or direct oral
anticoagulants. These are pills require much less monitoring compared to Warfarin where the patient needs injections all the time to monitor the levels. These new tablets don't require such rigorous monitoring.
For every type of mini stroke or stroke we would give these new tablets, like aspirin or clopideogrel, which are antiplatelet (the sticky bits in the blood). However, there is a certain type of cardio embolic cause of stroke called atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that predisposes people to an increased risk of clot, where those medications are not thought to be effective and medications like warfarin are thought to be much better at reducing stroke. In fact we think they reduce the risks of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation by up
to two-thirds so they're highly effective.
Dr Arvind Chandratheva is a consultant neurologist and clinical lead for the TIA service and hyper acute stroke unit at the UCLH National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square.
He offers private consultations and specialist private outpatient services at the Queen Square Private Consulting Rooms. For more information or to contact him to make an appointment, please refer to the details in his online profile at qsprivatehealthcare.com/consu...