October 2, 2012
A study in the journal Lancet regarding a new blood thinning drug brings to mind the difficulty doctors and patients have in using anticoagulants to prevent clots that could otherwise lead to heart attacks or strokes. The mostly commonly used blood thinner, warfarin (Coumadin®) has proven to be a godsend [...]
December 16, 2010
By Amy Kiefer and Kim Barnholt 23andMe is excited to announce the launch of our first National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research project. In the fall of 2010, 23andMe received a NIH Small Business Innovative Research Grant (SBIR) to validate our web-based approach to pharmacogenomics [...]
December 14, 2010
“Take two aspirin and call me in the morning.” That statement used to be a popular way to characterize the practice of medicine, back in the golden age of pharmaceuticals when drugs were seen as the answer to all problems. These days, we know that the picture is more complicated -- some conditions [...]
March 16, 2010
Today at the American College of Cardiology conference in Atlanta, researchers from the Mayo Clinic and Medco Health Solutions, Inc., presented results showing that using genetic testing to guide dosing of the commonly used blood thinner warfarin reduces hospitalizations. Overall there were 31% fewer [...]
February 4, 2010
Warfarin (Coumadin®) is a blood thinner given to people at high risk for the formation of blood clots due to conditions such as deep vein thrombosis, heart valve disease or replacement, and irregular heart beat. The drug is also given to prevent recurrence of pulmonary embolism, heart attack and [...]
February 19, 2009
Each time a doctor writes a prescription for warfarin (Coumadin®), a blood thinner given to about two million people each year in the United States, it’s a guessing game. There is no “right” dose of the drug. Everyone is different and it can take weeks of adjustment to find a patient’s ideal [...]
