pharmacological fancy
How do you describe the coagulation cascade and anticoagulants to a non-medical Buffalonian? Well here's an amusing example:
Conceive an ice floe being carried down the Niagara; you see, clot coagulation is like ice condensation and confluence, and Coumadin and Heparin would then be two ways of preventing icebergs from being projected over the falls, which we may liken to a lesion, hemorrhaging or otherwise. Now, Coumadin indirectly prolongs coagulation time by deforming some vitamin K dependent clotting factors, which would be very like changing the crystic chemical compositon of the great Niagara by adding a saline substance in order to delay freezing; while, on the other hand, Heparin directly intercedes and dams off the coagulation cascade, much like lowering the ice boom in October to obstruct the brash from further navigation down stream. In other words, while Coumadin is slowly but surely modifying the chemical components (vitamin K) of the coagulation cascade, Heparin immediately stands between prothrombin and thrombin. Heparin is easily likened to reason, which would intercede for most when the urge to precipitate oneself by barrel over the falls swelled up (i.e., interceding before I thro[w]m[y]bin-over-the-falls). Further, in order for Coumadin=s powers to take effect, at least six hours and rather several days must pass until those clotting factors, which the drug is involved in the denaturation of, replace the original, unadulterated clotting factors, at which time Heparin will not be necessary.
Until the next,
Your most serious colleague,
Christopher.
