Coumadin Warfarin Sodium, Better Known

Coumadin

Warfarin sodium, better known by its brand name Coumadin, is an anti-coagulant used to prevent heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes in patients (Drugs.com 2009). Though potential side effects and interactions with many other drugs constitute a definite risk to patients taking Coumadin, it is often the safest method of preventing these conditions from forming (Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 2008). Coumadin can also be used to treat certain other conditions related to the blood and heart, including atrial fibrillation and deep vein thrombosis, a severe and especially prevalent type of blood clot in many elderly patients (BMSC 2008). Coumadin stops the synthesis of several clotting factors, meaning that the substances simply don't exist in the body once the drugs have taken effect.

Origin and History

Warfarin was first isolated in nature after 1921 saw heavy cattle losses among some farmers and herders due to internal bleeding. Cattle normally suffer minor internal cuts and abrasions from the roughage they eat, but these typically heal quickly. This year, however, many farmers found that these cuts weren't healing and their cattle were bleeding to death. Karl Paul Link was sent with funding by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Fund (WARF) to look into the matter, and he discovered a compound -- which he named warfarin -- had formed on bundles of hay in the relatively high heat of the previous summer that acted as a powerful anti-coagulant (Newcomer 2003). The drugged gained popularity when used to treat President Dwight D. Eisenhower while he was in office.

Sources

Warfarin is a naturally occurring substance under certain conditions. Coumarin, the chemical compound that gives hay and certain other grasses their distinctive smell, form double molecules called dicoumarin or warfarin when exposed to high levels of heat and other agents (Newcomer 2003). Dicoumarin can be easily produced in a laboratory from natural coumarin, and this was used to make a cheap and effective rat poison in the 1940s (Newcomer 2003). The impurities that this process introduced made it unsafe as a medicine, however, and new techniques were developed to synthesize a crystalline form of warfarin sodium, which in proper doses is both very safe and highly effective (Newcomer 2003; BMSC 2008).

Physical and Chemical Properties

Warfarin forms crystals that are colorless and are essentially insoluble in water but ar soluble in alcohols and other organic solvents, while the sodium salts in the crystal are readily water soluble but will not form solutions in organic solvents (WHO 1995). It is easily absorbed through the digestive tract and is therefore almost always administered orally; the substance can also be absorbed through the skin, so gloves would be worn when handling large quantities of warfarin sodium (WHO 1995). Warfarin works in the body to disrupt Vitamin K's role in synthesizing certain blood clotting factors, and for ths reason levels of Vitamin K ingestion must be monitored to ensure safe blood clotting times without reduced effectiveness (Newcomer 2003).

Patient Info and FAQ Site

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, the manufacturer of the Coumadin brand name, operates a website at coumdin.com that provides a basic overview of the drugs use, dosages, possible side effects and dangers, and frequently asked questions (BMSC 2008). As the information here necessarily comes form a biased source, verifying its claims and conclusions on a site such as drugs.com -- which answers to its advertisers, admittedly, but which trades on its reliability and therefore has a larger stake in providing objective information -- is a wise decisions. The information here is largely the same, but it is somewhat more imply presented and far more trustworthy (Drugs.com 2009). They do not provide a frequently asked questions resource for this drug, but the overview they provide as well as indicators of certain risks or adverse interactions are of enormous benefit 9 Drugs, com 2009).