heparin
noun
hep·a·rin
ˈhe-pə-rən 
: a mucopolysaccharide sulfuric acid ester that is found especially in the liver and lungs, that prolongs the clotting time of blood, and that is used medically in the form of its sodium salt
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Heparin is an organic compound used to prevent blood from clotting in the heart or blood vessels during and after surgery, and for initial treatment of various heart, lung, or circulatory disorders in which there is an increased risk of blood clotting. A mixture of complex carbohydrate molecules, heparin occurs naturally in liver and lung tissues. It was discovered in 1922 and originally used to prevent clotting in blood taken for laboratory tests.
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Demand for three common frontline treatments — the inhalation drug albuterol for asthma, the blood-thinner heparin used in dialysis, and the Alzheimer's drug donepezil, or Aricept — is likely to rise through 2040.
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Adriel Bettelheim, Axios, 8 Oct. 2024
The scientists wondered if injecting human cells with the blood thinner heparin and related heparinoids would essentially trick the toxins into binding with the medicine, rather than harming the cells.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 July 2024
Pig products go into dozens of life-saving drugs like epinephrine, which is used to treat severe allergic reactions, and heparin, a blood thinner.
—Jen Christensen, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024
The condition is typically treated with aspirin and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) during pregnancy.
—Sadia Rafiquddin, STAT, 31 Aug. 2023
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Adriel Bettelheim, Axios, 8 Oct. 2024
The scientists wondered if injecting human cells with the blood thinner heparin and related heparinoids would essentially trick the toxins into binding with the medicine, rather than harming the cells.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 July 2024
Pig products go into dozens of life-saving drugs like epinephrine, which is used to treat severe allergic reactions, and heparin, a blood thinner.
—Jen Christensen, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024
The condition is typically treated with aspirin and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) during pregnancy.
—Sadia Rafiquddin, STAT, 31 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for heparin
Dictionary Entries Near heparin
Cite this Entry
“Heparin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heparin. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
heparin
noun
hep·a·rin
ˈhep-ə-rən
: a glycosaminoglycan sulfuric acid ester that occurs especially in the liver and lungs, that prolongs the clotting time of blood by preventing the formation of fibrin, and that is administered parenterally in the form of its sodium salt in vascular surgery and in the treatment of postoperative thrombosis and embolism see liquaemin compare antiprothrombin, antithrombin
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