Add another item to Dick Cheney's long list of medical issues. In addition to his 4 heart attacks (first being at a sprite 37 yrs of age), 2 bypass surgeries, multiple coronary interventions, popliteal aneurysms, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and subsequent implantation of a cardiac defibrillator - the vasculopath has staved off death yet again.The cat-like veep has amazing luck or a ridiculously attentive medical staff. Following an around-the-world trip which included more than 60 hrs of air travel, Cheney complained of slight calf pain which elucidated the DVT.
Cheney visited his doc at George Washington University hospital and a duplex revealed the clot, prompting his MD to start him on warfarin. In a statement today, Mr. Cheney’s office said he would be treated with “blood thinning medication for several months.”
We can only assume that Cheney is already on standard anti-platelet therapy, aspirin and Plavix, considering his multiple stent history. Throw in some warfarin for this latest diagnosis and his blood will be "thinner" than Nicole Richie. Speaking of "thin blood", why do we use this euphemism and who came up with it? The blood's viscosity does not change at all. Is it really that hard to explain or understand that platelets help clots to form and these medications prevent the bonding of platelets to each other? It is due time that the media and PR flack start speaking of medical treatments in real terms rather than 3rd grade metaphors. If advertisors can advertise directly to consumers than consumers should understand medical terminology rather than psedo-scientific analogies.
Back to Cheney's hard-to-believe medical history, Dr. Cameron Akbari, a senior vascular surgeon at Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia, said Mr. Cheney’s history of heart disease puts him at only “a very slightly increased risk” of developing a deep venous thrombosis.
One more interesting historical note: Warfarin was named in honor of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation who discovered that coumarin, a byproduct of moldy silage, was a potent anticoagulant and the cause of bleeding cows. Warfarin was first registered for use as a rodenticide in the US in 1952, but its true mechanism of action, the inhibtion of vitamin K-dependent cofactors was not elucidated until 1978.
We can only assume that Cheney is already on standard anti-platelet therapy, aspirin and Plavix, considering his multiple stent history. Throw in some warfarin for this latest diagnosis and his blood will be "thinner" than Nicole Richie. Speaking of "thin blood", why do we use this euphemism and who came up with it? The blood's viscosity does not change at all. Is it really that hard to explain or understand that platelets help clots to form and these medications prevent the bonding of platelets to each other? It is due time that the media and PR flack start speaking of medical treatments in real terms rather than 3rd grade metaphors. If advertisors can advertise directly to consumers than consumers should understand medical terminology rather than psedo-scientific analogies.
Back to Cheney's hard-to-believe medical history, Dr. Cameron Akbari, a senior vascular surgeon at Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia, said Mr. Cheney’s history of heart disease puts him at only “a very slightly increased risk” of developing a deep venous thrombosis.
“Reasons No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 why he developed this are he was on a very long plane ride,” Dr. Akbari said.
Ok. But why does he keep clotting every portion of his vascular bed. I am quite sure that Cheney has had the over-ordered hypercoagulable work-up, but he should also be tested for aspirin and clopidogrel resistance.
To clarify, it is unlikely that the clot lodged in Cheney's left leg is actually sitting in his calf. The vast majority of these thrombi sit in the larger, more proximal venous system. And lastly, Coumadin or Warfarin, will prevent further propagation of this clot but will not dissolve the clot - so the risk of PE is still there all you anti-Chenites.
One more interesting historical note: Warfarin was named in honor of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation who discovered that coumarin, a byproduct of moldy silage, was a potent anticoagulant and the cause of bleeding cows. Warfarin was first registered for use as a rodenticide in the US in 1952, but its true mechanism of action, the inhibtion of vitamin K-dependent cofactors was not elucidated until 1978.
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