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Anticoagulant medicines
Anticoagulants are medicines that increase the time it takes for blood to clot. They are commonly called blood thinners. An anticoagulant medicine is used in patients to prevent blood clots from forming in veins, arteries, the heart, and the brain of a patient. For example, if the clot travels to the patient's heart it can cause a heart attack or if one forms in the brain it may cause a stroke or TIA (mini-stroke, transient ischemic attack).