Chapter 1: The Surprising Link Between Rat Poison and Medicine

Could rat poison be coursing through your veins? It's a startling thought, but it might be true for you, your parents, or even your grandparents.

Imagine witnessing a loved one in a hospital bed, lying still with an oxygen mask over their face, tubes connected all around. A nurse is busy taking notes while the doctor outlines the next steps. As the doctor looks your way, he says:

“I've instructed the nurse to administer this treatment for your parents.” He reassures you, “He will be alright,” before heading towards the exit.

Then, the doctor pauses, turns back, and adds, “Just one more thing, the medication your dad will receive is rat poison.”

If you found yourself in this situation, you would understandably be furious, questioning, “Are you trying to harm my parent?” Unfortunately, this scenario is not fictional; it is occurring in medical facilities globally. The one detail the doctor won't share is that the treatment is indeed rat poison.

But why would a physician recommend a substance known for killing rodents? I'll delve into that shortly, but first, allow me to provide some context.

During my time as a graduate student in the chemistry department at the University of Florida, I worked as a teaching assistant (TA). One of our responsibilities was to instruct undergraduate chemistry courses. Most of my fellow TAs disliked this role, as we were trained for laboratory research rather than classroom teaching, particularly for students who seemed disinterested in the subject.

During a break, one TA expressed her frustration with teaching and mentioned her desire to be a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When asked why, she revealed that graduate students there didn't need to teach because the department benefited from substantial funding due to patents and royalties from Warfarin.

Warfarin? I had never heard of it. That was the moment I began to investigate this drug, which is, in fact, a rat poison.

Warfarin is lethal to rodents as it causes them to bleed internally until death occurs. It functions as an anticoagulant; when you experience a cut, your blood clots to prevent excessive bleeding. However, by inhibiting a rat’s ability to clot its blood, Warfarin ensures a slow demise through blood loss.

So, why is this poison prescribed for heart disease? The answer lies in financial motives; the real profit isn't in agriculture with rodenticides, but in medicine.

Although originally developed to exterminate rats, researchers soon recognized Warfarin's potential as a blood thinner for individuals suffering from heart conditions. Think of a heart attack victim as a ticking time bomb: if the arteries are clogged, akin to a traffic jam on a busy highway, doctors use blood thinners to restore smooth circulation.

In the early days of Warfarin (1940s to 1950s), persuading doctors to prescribe it was a challenge due to its association with rat poison. Even when President Dwight Eisenhower suffered a severe heart attack in the 1950s, doctors hesitated to recommend Warfarin. Ultimately, he received the treatment and continued his presidency.

Today, we take these medications to keep our circulatory systems clear, but the initial stigma of Warfarin as a rat poison made its acceptance a difficult hurdle to overcome.

In this video titled "Old Rat Denounces Rat Poison," we explore the irony of using a substance designed to kill rats in human medicine.

Chapter 2: Understanding the Mechanism of Warfarin

The second video, "What Happens Inside Your Body When You Eat Rat Poison," provides a fascinating look at how Warfarin works within the human body, transforming from a deadly poison to a lifesaving medication.