A: About 20 years ago, when a cardiologist put me on Coumadin for a chronic fibrillation, I got the prescription filled and then asked myself: "Do I want to take this highly toxic drug for the rest of my life? Is there any evidence that it really works?" I came to the same conclusion for both questions - no and no. So I tossed the rat poison (Coumadin) and have been fine without it ever since. Coumadin is the brand name for warfarin. Long before someone had the brilliant idea of putting this in capsule form and selling it to human guinea pigs, warfarin was originally used as rat poison. It's still used as rat poison today. But as scientists soon discovered, warfarin does more than send rats to an early rat heaven. In humans, it acts as a blood thinner. Over the past few years, more and more doctors have been prescribing it as an anticoagulant to treat thrombosis and other disorders like atrial fibrillation and pulmonary embolism. As you can imagine, there are more than a few problems with this rat-poison-turned-pharmaceutical-drug - like the fact that it can cause liver damage and internal bleeding. It also kills off vitamin K, an important nutrient that helps protect you from osteoporosis, arterial calcification, and cognitive problems. Cod liver oil is an excellent alternative to this highly toxic drug. You can take 2 to 3 tablespoons a day. Whether you're considering coming off of Coumadin or are looking for an alternative to begin with, be sure to talk with your doctor about it. If your current one insists on shoving this rat poison down your throat, look for another doctor. The American College for the Advancement of Medicine is a great place to start: www.acam.org. | 
