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Being on Blood Thinners: How Do I Know I am Bleeding?
Emily Hawes, UNC School of Pharmacy, writes… Patients on blood thinners are at increased risk for bleeding. This can be easy to recognize external bleeding (bruising, bleeding from a cut, nosebleeds, etc.) or more occult internal bleeding. Patients need to know how to recognize abnormal bleeding. If any of the below signs of abnormal bleeding occur patients need…
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Injection of Blood Thinners under the Skin: Making it Easier – Insuflon Ports
Having to take shots of a blood thinner injected under the skin (subcutaneously = s.c.) once or twice daily for prolonged periods of time can be bothersome and uncomfortable. Use of a once weekly exchanged s.c. port, called Insuflon, can make it easier for a number of patients.
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Pregnancy Loss and Clotting Disorders
How common is pregnancy loss? What are the causes? Pregnancy loss (= miscarriage) in the general population is common. Most losses occur in the first trimester. As many as 5 % of women have 2 or more early losses; 1-2 % have 3 or more early losses [ref 1]. Well established risk factors for pregnancy…
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Incidentally Discovered Blood Clots
General comments CT scans and MRI scans are often done in medicine, for a variety of reasons. Every so often such a scan will detect a blood clot in a patient who has no symptoms from the clot. This is referred to as an “incidental VTE” (VTE = venous thromboembolism, i.e. clot in a vein)…
