Researchers Find Better Way...

Researchers Find Better Way to Deliver Blood Thinner

FRIDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A new gene-based dosing formula for the anti-clotting drug warfarin should make it easier to prescribe the correct dose of the blood thinner, researchers say.

Up to this point, doctors have had to engage in a trial-and-error process over several weeks that left patients at risk of hemorrhaging from low doses or developing blood clots with too-high doses.

"We already knew these genes affected warfarin dosing, but we didn't know how to use that information clinically," researcher Dr. Brian Gage, medical director of Barnes-Jewish Hospital's Blood Thinner Clinic, said in a prepared statement. "But with this study, we've established a simple way to combine these genetic factors with clinical factors in a dosing algorithm."

Gage and colleagues developed the formula based on study participants who had undergone hip replacement or knee surgery. The study team focused on two genes, VKORC1 and CYP2C9, which are known to affect the way warfarin operates inside the body.

Using the new method, physicians head to a Web-based tool to calculate a patient's initial dosage more accurately...
 

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