Consume more vitamin K to help and not to harm patients on warfarin

When prescribed warfarin, an anticoagulant medication, many patients are asked to limit foods rich in vitamin K, such as green vegetables. The results of a new clinical trial are questioning these tips and suggest that warfarin patients actually benefit from increasing their vitamin K intake, provided that they maintain their blood levels. Ingestion uniform.

Warfarin is widely used to prevent dangerous blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes. The dosage of the drug should be carefully calibrated to balance the risk of clot formation and the risk of uncontrolled bleeding. Since warfarin neutralizes the activity of vitamin K in the blood, large variations in vitamin K intake can upset this balance.

The current recommendation to maintain a constant daily intake of vitamin K often results in a limitation of vitamin K intake in patients. According to the new test, patients would be better advised to increase the amount of vitamin K in their diet.

"I think all patients treated with warfarin would benefit from increasing their daily vitamin K intake," said Guylaine Ferland, lead author of the study, professor of nutrition at the University of Montreal and scientist at the Center. Research Institute of the Montreal Heart Institute. " between vitamin K food and the action of the drug, it is important that the daily intake (high) of vitamin K is as constant as possible. "

Ferland will present his research at Nutrition 2019, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, which was held from June 8 to 11, 2019 in Baltimore.

"We hope health professionals will stop advising patients treated with warfarin to avoid green leafy vegetables," Ferland said. She explained that eating a lot of green vegetables and other nutritious foods high in vitamin K can help stabilize anticoagulant therapy and offers many other health benefits.

This is the first randomized controlled trial to determine how patients on warfarin respond to a food intervention aimed at systematically increasing vitamin K intake. The researchers recruited 46 patients with a history of anticoagulant instability. Half attended food counseling sessions and cooking clbades providing general nutrition information, while half attended counseling sessions and cooking clbades focused on increasing food consumption. green vegetables and oils and herbs rich in vitamin K.

After six months, 50% of those advised to increase their vitamin K intake maintained stable anticoagulation levels, compared to only 20% of those who received general nutritional counseling, which represents a significant improvement. The results suggest that patients taking warfarin would benefit from consuming foods that provide at least 90 micrograms of vitamin K a day for women and 120 micrograms a day for men, Ferland said.