Provide a synopsis of the clotting cascade as well as how 2 anticoagulant medications affect it.

Clotting cascade refers to the series of reactions which take place simultaneously and result in blood clotting. The clotting cascade is a complex set of negative feed back mechanism which is used by the human body to maintain homeostasis. The clotting cascade can be triggered either by intrinsic or extrinsic release of chemical mediators. The reaction occur in this order:

Intrinsic factor < activation of common clotting pathway < platelet lipids are released < prothrombin < fibrinogen < fibrin formation < stabilized fibrin clot.

Two examples of anticoagulant medication that affect the pathway are heparin and warfarin