The common blood-thinning drug warfarin, that is used to treat atrial fibrillation, has been found to increase the risk of dementia in patients taking the drug.
A study was carried out by Dr. T. Jared Bunch and a team of researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, who found that people who ingested warfarin on a long-term basis were more likely to develop dementia as well as other detrimental diseases such as Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, according to Medical Xpress.
At this point in time, nearly 2.7 million Americans are living with atrial fibrillation with 20 million taking warfarin as a preventative measure against life-threatening blood clots.
The study was presented at the Heart Rhythm Society’s 37th Annual Scientific Sessions this month and took data from over 10,000 patients to focus particularly on the link between warfarin-use, dementia and atrial fibrillation. The researchers used other patients in the study that used warfarin for non-atrial fibrillation conditions such as thromboembolism and valvular heart disease. The study took place over 7 years and the patients involved had no prior history of dementia.
The results showed that dementia was significantly higher in those that took warfarin for atrial fibrillation as blood thinners increase the amount of brain bleeds which can have a negative impact on brain functioning over time.
“First, as physicians we have to understand that although we need to use anticoagulants for many reasons including to prevent stroke in AF patients, at that same time there are risks that need to be considered some of which we are only right now beginning to understand,” says Bunch. “In this regard, only those that absolutely need blood thinners should be placed on them long-term. Second, other medications like aspirin that may increase the blood thinners effect should be avoided unless there is a specific medical need. Finally, in people that are on warfarin in which the levels are erratic or difficult to control, switching to newer agents that are more predictable may lower risk.”