Stroke Prevention In Atrial Fibrillation Patients

Featuring Dr. Christian Constance, MD, FRCP, Cardiologist

Duration: 2 minutes, 33 seconds

Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke by about five fold compared to the general population. Strokes can be extremely debilitating, you even have a very high rate of other kinds of morbidity.

It is extremely important for patients with atrial fibrillation to understand this, and to take their anticoagulants as prescribed, and not to forget them, to prevent those strokes.

Anticoagulants are what are commonly known as blood thinners. Patients with atrial fibrillation need to take their anticoagulants, their blood thinners, every day, to prevent the formation of a thrombus clot that may travel to other areas – like the brain – and give you the stroke. So it’s extremely important for patients not to forget to take their blood thinners.

One of the most important things that an atrial fibrillation patient has to understand about stroke prevention is the compliance to the medication of the anticoagulants. Compliance is extremely important. Missing just one dose can put a patient at risk of a stroke.

It is very important from the onset that a patient has a discussion with their doc that is prescribing this medication to find out which is the better drug for them, to be the most compliant as possible over the long term. And that’s how you get the best compliance.

There are several stroke prevention medications on the market right now. Warfarin is the one that everybody remembers because it’s been on the market for more than 40 years. It’s a complicated drug to take for patients. There are many blood samples that have to be drawn, a lot of dosage adjustments that have to be done for patients over time, and depending on what other drugs they’re on, or what they’re eating, there could be a lot of adjustments.

Thankfully, there are newer drugs on the market that are just as safe as Warfarin, and actually in some cases reduce stroke even better. And luckily for patients, no extra blood has to be drawn at any time, and these drugs come in a once-a-day version or a twice-a-day version, giving the flexibility for patients to improve compliance over time.

When considering the right anticoagulant, patients should look at safety, side effects, and ease of use, and make a decision on what drug fits best their needs. If you’re a patient with atrial fibrillation and you want to know more about stroke prevention and the potential benefits of these novel anticoagulants, I suggest that you talk with your family doc or a cardiologist and get more information.

Presenter: Dr. Christian Constance, Cardiologist, Montréal, QC

Local Practitioners: Cardiologist