All blood thiners do the same thing, they thin the blood. Fun fact Warfarin (a common blood thinner is/was used in rodenticides)

When you mess with blood, it will affect other parts of the body.

A blood thinner should be a last resort option. If some one is at the point where blood is thick enough to need a blood thinner then there is something else going on that needs to be looked at.

Here are the top three side effects to be aware of with blood thinners in general :

• Strokes (Bleeding in the brain)
• Increased calcium in ateries (hardening of arteries)
• Increased risk of diabetes, alzheimers and dementia

I don't have any medical credentials, but I do take care of two family members who have been on blood thinners most of their adult life. I can't see a reason why children would need a blood thinner in normal conditions. Usually once prescribed, a blood thinner is often a long term deal as going on and off blood thinners can itself cause blood clots.

^Edit : Hi, so I got a bit of a response on that one. I do agree there is a medical place for blood thinners, it has saved so many lives. I didn't mean to come off as "blood thinners are evil poison". I just wanted to add a perspective on the end of the road view.

The long term use of these types of drugs are generaly not good, but they'll keep you alive if your one of the many people who just got a bad dice roll at life.

The thing that has flown over all of our heads is what on earth is causing so many people to need blood thinners, and why has that risk started to appear in children in recent years? So much so that they need to create specific drugs just for kids instead of altering the dosage of a well known and long used one.