Warfarin, playing the numbers game

We saw the consultant physiotherapist today. He gave Jo an injection of botox in her left arm to try and loosen up the fingers of her left hand and spoke to us about Jo moving from aspirin to warfarin to lower the risk of stroke. He appeared to be playing a numbers game as this wasn't based on any empirical evidence of increased risk in Jo's case, just on statistics. I don't think the extra risks of warfarin justify this for the very little gain in risk reduction from aspirin.

Interestingly, today he said Jo had not suffered a stroke, contradicting his negative diagnosis last year when he said Jo had suffered a stroke and countered that it was "a matter of definition" when Jo argued that she hadn't. He had also insisted their CT scan showed a large area of infarction, the classic definition of a stroke, which a later report by the consultant neurologist diagnosed as, "a low density area previously observed in 2003" and went on to report, "no recent infarction".

We spoke to him about a diet aid to lower Jo's absorption of fat as she has not lost any weight since February, despite cutting out all cakes, biscuits and chocolates. The rest of her diet is balanced and she does not eat excessive quantities so the supplement seems the best way to us but he wanted Jo to see the dietician first. Another numbers game. Considering the risk factors; age, atrial fibrillation in the past and high blood pressure, also in the past, I still feel the focus should be on treating the cause rather than the symptoms. Reducing Jo's weight will lower the risk of high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation and stroke.