I have just read the new anticoagulation booklet from AF Association cover to cover and guess what? . Not one use of those two dreadful words "blood thinners". Alleluia!!!!.
(And I did not proof read that one.)
For anybody worried about anticoagulation or new to AF I recommend this booklet as essential reading.
Bob
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BobD
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I got one too in with an AFA newletter and several other booklets and an excercise DVD the other day. I think they must have been sent out to everyone who's a 'Friend' of the AF Association.
I have just been on the phone with someone who has been on Warfarin for over 30 years. He spontaneously said he had not realised that Warfarin does not actually make the blood thinner, like diluting paint. I used to think the naming problem does not matter. But it does, since the comparison with paint thinners is unhelpful, especially when it comes to explaining first aid. Well done BobW.
My earlier answer to 200444 seems to have got lost but others have answered it. My argument is twofold. One is it is patronising thinking we can't understand the science and the other is that "Blood thinners" makes vulnerable people think that the blood gets runnier and therefore can leak out spontaneously. The book makes it quite clear that anticoagulants do not make you bleed more easily and that you still need an injury to start bleeding.
Sorry I left home at 4.30 am to go see my Man in London today and just back so missed a lot.
Disappointed that the figures it quotes states risk of stroke for people with afib is 1 in 20 as your risk of stroke if you have afib varies considerably depending on other factors. In fact according NICE patient decision aid your stroke risk only reaches this figure if you have a chads score of 4. What we need (especially newly diagnosed people) is clear and accurate information for all. I'd have been even more scared (unnecessarily so) if I'd have read this at the start of my af journey. Also noticed it was funded by boehringer ingelhein who manufacture pradaxa.
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