Could genetics improve warfarin prescription?
A clinical trial is to be launched by researchers at Newcastle and Liverpool Universities to test if genetics could provide personalised medicine by optimising each patient’s dose of the common blood-thinning drug, warfarin. One of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, warfarin is used to prevent dangerous blood clots that can lead to heart attacks, strokes or even death. One per cent of people in the UK are prescribed warfarin but doctors find the ideal dose for each person varies widely and is hard to predict, yet is crucial for the patient’s safety. Getting the wrong amount of warfarin can be dangerous – if the dose is too high, patients could bleed profusely, if it’s too low, they could develop life-threatening clots. Researchers know that two genes, CYP2C9 and VKORC1, which vary slightly among different individuals, can influence warfarin’s effectiveness. Now, scientists want to work out whether information about these genes could improve decisions on the amount of warfar
