Gene Analysis Fails To Help Predict Best Warfarin Dose

Gene Analysis Fails To Help Predict Best Warfarin Dose

Gene Analysis Fails To Help Predict Best Warfarin Dose
Biotechnology News

Gene analysis failed in a U.S. clinical trial to help doctors select better doses of warfarin, the widely used blood-thinner, which can cause dangerous bleeding if doses are too high and fail to protect against blood clots and strokes if doses are too low. Warfarin, an oral drug that has been on the market for more than 60 years, is used to prevent strokes in people with an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation and to prevent dangerous blood clots in veins and in the lungs. The theory was tested in a trial of 1,015-patients with a history of stroke, vein clots and atrial fibrillation, all of whom took an initial warfarin dose.
Source