Can the Beverages You Drink Interact With Your Blood Thinner?

[Guest guest]

Free-Reprint Article Written by: Marcus Stout

See Terms of Reprint Below.

*****************************************************************

*

* This email is being delivered directly to members of the group:

*

*

*

*****************************************************************

We have moved our TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.

Be certain to read our TERMS OF REPRINT and honor our TERMS

OF REPRINT when you use this article. Thank you.

This article has been distributed by:

http://Article-Distribution.com

Helpful Link:

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Article Title:

==============

Can the Beverages You Drink Interact With Your Blood Thinner?

Article Description:

====================

Warfarin and its counterparts are commonly prescribed

prescription medications today. Warfarin is a blood thinner, and

is used primarily to prevent blood clots in patients with

cardiovascular disease, or who are otherwise at a higher than

average risk of stroke or heart attack.

Additional Article Information:

===============================

830 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2006-12-15 10:36:00

Written By: Marcus Stout

Copyright: 2006

Contact Email: mailto:Marcus.Stout@...

For more free-reprint articles by Marcus Stout, please visit:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/index.shtml#Marcus_Stout

=============================================

Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters:

=============================================

If you use this article on your website or in your ezine,

We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let

us know where you have used this article, and we will

include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com:

http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=4085 & p=load

HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste

Versions Of Article Are Available at:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/s/beverages-interact-blood-thinner.\

shtml#get_code

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Can the Beverages You Drink Interact With Your Blood Thinner?

Copyright © 2006 Marcus Stout

Golden Moon Tea

http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com

Warfarin and its counterparts are commonly prescribed

prescription medications today. Warfarin is a blood thinner, and

is used primarily to prevent blood clots in patients with

cardiovascular disease, or who are otherwise at a higher than

average risk of stroke or heart attack.

Warfarin prevents clots from forming or from growing larger by

stopping the formation of substances that cause clots. Because

warfarin thins your blood, it's important to stop taking it

before any surgical procedures. Check with your doctor regarding

his recommendations before your surgery.

Warfarin's side effects include:

* headache

* upset stomach

* diarrhea

* fever

* skin rash

Recently, there has been discussion that some beverages may

inhibit the blood thinning properties of warfarin. The beverages

in question include cranberry juice, grape juice and tea. The

theory was that the beverages inhibited the human enzyme upon

which warfarin works to prevent the formation of clots. This led

patients to wonder if it was safe to consume these beverages

while taking warfarin and similar drugs. Similar concerns were

raised for patients who might be taking an anti-fungal such as

fluconazole; the drug commonly prescribed to treat yeast

infections.

A study was conducted to measure the effects of these three

beverages on the effectiveness of warfarin. To conduct the study,

researchers performed experiments both in vitro and on human

participants, using flurbiprofen, a common anti-inflammatory

drug. The flurbiprofen mimics warfarin's action in the body, so

it was thought to be a safer alternative for the participants.

The human participants were given grape juice, cranberry juice,

brewed tea, or a placebo cranberry juice for control. The

patients were also given either flurbiprofen to determine any

interactions. In addition, the patients were given fluconazole

along with flubiprofen to study its possible interaction, too.

The study used 14 healthy volunteers and studied them weekly over

a 5 week period. At each visit, the volunteer would receive a

different combination, so that each combination could be compared

on each participant.

In addition to using human participants, researchers also studied

the reactions created by these various combinations in the lab.

Under these conditions, scientists can more closely monitor

exactly how the substances might affect each other.

The studies concluded that the beverages in question did not

inhibit the effectiveness of warfarin in terms of its ability to

thin the blood in the human studies. However, the in vitro trials

showed a slight inhibition when the flurbiprofen was combined

with tea or grape juice –but this finding was not replicated in

the human studies.

What the studies did find, however, was that fluconazole did

appear to inhibit the effectiveness of warfarin in both human

trials and in vitro tests.

So, this study concluded that those who drink juices and tea need

not worry that their beverages will interfere with the drug's

ability to do its job. You should speak to your doctor, however,

if you are prescribed fluconazole while taking warfarin, as the

interaction may cause warfarin to be less effective.

But, you can feel safe drinking your usual beverages without fear

that you'll have an interaction. And, in fact, if your beverage

of choice is green tea, you may actually be working your way out

of taking that warfarin in the future.

Green tea's potent anti-oxidants have been shown to help improve

blood pressure and lower cholesterol. An improvement in blood

pressure and cholesterol can mean a significant improvement in

any cardiovascular disease that you might have.

Abnormally high blood pressure puts pressure on the arterial

walls, which often causes them to have little nicks. Blood clots

are formed as your body attempts to repair these little nicks.

But, if the blood clots grow too large or break off, they can

block an artery to the heart, causing a heart attack. Or, if they

block an artery that supplies the brain, they can cause a

stroke.

Warfarin is prescribed to help prevent these clots from forming,

but if blood pressure and cholesterol are lowered naturally, the

need for a blood thinner can sometimes be eliminated. Of course,

you should never discontinue any medication without consulting

your doctor, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to manage your

blood pressure naturally?

In general, adding green tea to your diet is a healthy idea. It

has been shown in study after study to help prevent premature

aging and a whole host of diseases, including heart disease,

stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and some cancers.

It may also help you keep your weight under control, which also

helps keep you healthy and strong.

Try adding two to three cups of green tea per day to your diet to

start seeing the healthy benefits. You'll find green tea

available in a wide variety of flavors, in both loose form and

tea bag form. You can drink it hot or iced – and add milk if you

wish. Any way you drink it, you can be sure you're doing

something healthy – and that won't interfere with medications

you're already taking.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Marcus Stout is the President of the Golden Moon Tea

Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest

rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly

and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website,

you can learn more about their current tea offerings,

including their exceptional green tea

(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea), white tea,

black tea (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/blacktea),

oolong tea (also known as wu-long and wu long tea)

and chai. Visit http://www.goldenmoontea.com for

all details concerning the Golden Moon Tea Company's

fine line of teas.