Clopidogrel ratiopharm GmbH contains the active ingredient Clopidogrel which belongs to a group of medicines called antiplatelet medicinal products. Platelets (so-called thrombocytes) are very small structures, which clump together during blood clotting. By preventing this clumping, antiplatelet medicinal products reduce the chances of blood clots forming (a process called thrombosis).
Clopidogrel ratiopharm GmbH is taken to prevent blood clots (thrombi) forming in hardened blood vessels (arteries), a process known as atherothrombosis, which can lead to atherothrombotic events (such as stroke, heart attack, or death).
You have been prescribed Clopidogrel ratiopharm GmbH to help prevent blood clots and reduce the risk of these severe events because:
- You have a condition of hardening of arteries (also known as atherosclerosis), and
- You have previously experienced a heart attack, stroke or have a condition known as peripheral arterial disease (disturbed blood flow in arms or legs caused by vascular occlusions) or
- You have experienced a severe type of chest pain known as ?unstable angina? or ?myocardial infarction? (heart attack). For the treatment of this condition your doctor may have placed a stent in the blocked or narrowed artery to restore effective blood flow. You should also be given acetylsalicylic acid (a substance present in many medicines used to relieve pain and lower fever as well as to prevent blood clotting) by your doctor.