Calcium Channel Blockers and Anti-Coagulant

This document provides information about calcium channel blockers and anticoagulants. It discusses the mechanism of action, indications, adverse effects, and special considerations of these medications. The document also includes examples of calcium channel blockers and anticoagulants.

Running head: CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 1
Calcium Channel Blockers and Anti-Coagulant
Students name
Institution affiliation

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 2
1. Calcium channel blockers (calcium antagonists)
Body System:
Drug
Classification
Drug
Examples
Mechanism of action
“What will it do to
me? (benefit)
Indications for
use “What is the
drug for?”
Adverse effects
“What might it do to
me? (risks)”
Key
Contraindications
& Drug-drug
interactions
Special consideration
(administration times
monitoring
therapeutic effects)
Calcium channel
blocking agents
(dihydropyridines
)
Amlodipine
Diltiazem
Felodipine
Isradipine
Nicardipine
Nifedipine
The drug works
through relaxation and
vasodilation of the
blood vessels, which
improves the oxygen
supply and lowering
the blood pressure
(Bladen, Gündüz,
Şimşek, Şafak &
Zamponi, 2014).
By lowering the blood
pressure, the drugs
relieve chest pain
(Angina) and control
The drugs work
by restricting the
amount of
calcium entering
the cardiac and
smooth muscle
cells by blocking
voltage-gated
calcium
channels.
Calcium channel
blockers are
mainly used to in
the treatment of
The drug has various
side effects including
constipation, nausea,
drowsiness, low blood
pressure and Sexual
dysfunction
(Godfraind, 2014).
The drugs are
contraindicated in
individuals with
known
hypersensitivity to
the medication or
its component.
Some drugs
examples in this
category have
many listed drug
interactions; for
instance,
Amlodipine has
A patient using the
drug should be
monitored keenly.
Checking for
symptoms
improvement or
maintenance of blood
pressure is essential to
determine
efficacy(Godfraind,
2014). The medication
are titrated quickly;
hence, patient
assessment should be

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 3
irregular heartbeat. hypertension.
The drugs work
by slowing the
movement
of calcium into
the heart cells of
and walls of the
blood vessel,
making it easy
for the heart to
pump blood and
widens
the blood vessels.
Hence the heart
does not struggle
to pump blood,
and the blood
pressure is
lowered
600 registered
interactions
(Graudins, Lee &
Druda, 2016).
Patients should
avoid grapefruit
juice as some of
the drugs in this
category interacts
with the juice and
can have an
adverse impact of
blood pressure and
heart rate.
done regularly.

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 4
( Godfraind,
2014).
Dihydropyridines
is mainly used to
treat
hypertension due
to high vascular
selectivity.
2 Anticoagulant (heparin)
Body System: Drug Mechanism of Indications for Adverse effects Key Special

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 5
Drug
Classification
Examples action “What will it
do to me? (benefit)
use “What is the
drug for?”
“What might it do
to me? (risks)”
Contraindications
& Drug-drug
interactions
considerations
(administration
times, monitoring
therapeutic effects)
Anticoagulant
(blood thinners)
Heparin
(Dalteparin,
Enoxaparin)
Warfarin
(Coumadin)
Rivaroxaban
(Xarelto)
Dabigatran
(Pradaxa)
Apixaban
(Eliquis)
Edoxaban
(Savaysa)
Enoxaparin
(Lovenox)
Anticoagulants
prevent treats and
reduce the risk of
blood clots which
can lead to
threatening situations
when the clots enter
in vital organs
(D'Souza, 2015). The
drugs function by
alleviating blood
from coagulating to
form a clot in the
organs of the body.
The anticoagulant
drugs interfere
with the proteins
(clotting factor) in
the blood that are
involved with the
process of
coagulation
(D'Souza, 2015).
Heparin prevents
the formation and
growth of blood
clots by inhibiting
the action of
clotting factor that
The most common
side effect of
anticoagulant
treatment is bleeding.
Other side effects
from the drug
include; headache,
abdominal pains,
fever, local injection
site reaction, nausea
and flatulence
(D'Souza, 2015).
Heparin has
numerous
interactions with
other medications.
The most common
interaction is with
drugs that have an
increased risk of
bleeding (Sandner
et al., 2014). When
taken together with
heparin, there is a
significant increase
in the risk of
Patients who are under
heparin therapy should
be closely monitored
due to its narrow
therapeutic index and
increases the risk of
bleeding. Before
heparin therapy
begins, patients should
undergo a head to toe
assessment, so they do
not have any potential
bleeding risk (Oduah,
Linhardt & Sharfstein,
2016). Uncontrolled

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 6
Fondaparinux
(Arixtra)
leads to
cementation of the
platelets into
clumps. Clotting
factors are
responsible for
clumping of
platelets together
to form a strong
and large clot.
Heparin prevents
the creation of
blood clots by
preventing the
creation of
clotting factor and
by interrupting
clotting factors’
action.
bleeding.
When taken with
some other
medication, the
drug may exhibit
decreased
effectiveness in its
action. Patients
under heparin drug
should avoid
medicines that lead
to severely low
blood pressure and
low heart rate, for
instance,
corticorelin.
and undiagnosed
bleeding may lead to
cardiovascular
collapse. Medical
practitioners should be
available after the
therapy in case of
significant bleedings
where protamine
sulfate is administered
to reverse the
heparin’s effect.
There are different
concentrations of
heparin available.
Hence, it is essential
to take caution to
avoid incidents of
medication error.

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 7
References
Bladen, C., Gündüz, M. G., Şimşek, R., Şafak, C., & Zamponi, G. W. (2014). Synthesis and evaluation of 1, 4-dihydropyridine
derivatives with calcium channel blocking activity. Pflügers Archiv-European Journal of Physiology, 466(7), 1355-1363.

CALCIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS AND ANTI-COAGULANT 8
D'Souza, M. (2015). Effect of Planned Teaching on knowledge and practice regarding the care of patients receiving Anticoagulant
Therapy among the Nurses in the Intensive Care Unit in a Selected Hospital. Asian Journal of Nursing Education and
Research, 5(3), 351.
Godfraind, T. (2014). Calcium channel blockers in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy. Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology and
therapeutics, 19(6), 501-515.
Graudins, A., Lee, H. M., & Druda, D. (2016). Calcium channel antagonist and beta‐blocker overdose: antidotes and adjunct
therapies. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 81(3), 453-461.
Oduah, E., Linhardt, R., & Sharfstein, S. (2016). Heparin: past, present, and future. Pharmaceuticals, 9(3), 38.
Sandner, S. E., Riebandt, J., Haberl, T., Mahr, S., Rajek, A., Schima, H., ... & Zimpfer, D. (2014). Low-molecular-weight heparin for
anti-coagulation after left ventricular assist device implantation. The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, 33(1), 88-93.
Swart, T., & Hurley, M. J. (2016). Calcium channel antagonists as a disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson's disease: therapeutic
rationale and current status. CNS drugs, 30(12), 1127-1135.