Heparinization

/ˌhɛpərɪnɪˈzeɪʃən/ noun

Definition

The medical process of treating a patient with heparin, an anticoagulant drug that prevents blood clots.

Etymology

From 'heparin' (a drug derived from liver tissue) plus the suffix '-ization' (the process of making or becoming). The drug itself comes from 'hepar' (liver), where it was originally extracted.

Kelly Says

Heparin was one of medicine's great accidental discoveries—researchers studying liver extracts in the 1920s found something that prevented blood clotting, and now it saves thousands of lives daily from stroke and clots!

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