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Anticoagulants

Anticoagulant medicines, often called blood thinners, do not actually thin the blood but increase the time it takes a blood clot to form. Anticoagulants help prevent existing blood clots from becoming larger and may be used to prevent deep vein blood clots or to treat certain blood vessel, heart, or lung conditions.

Last Revised: December 28, 2011

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine & Jeffrey S. Ginsberg, MD - Hematology

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