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Boluoke® (lumbrokinase) FAQ’s

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How long before surgery should patient stop taking Boluoke®?

The conservative approach is to stop Boluoke® 1 week prior to surgery. The patient may resume taking Boluoke® 15 days after surgery if no complication or earlier if the physician deems appropriate.

Can Boluoke® be safely taken if the patient is on blood thinning agents?

Boluoke® does not significantly affect blood tests like PT and aPTT (thus it does not affect INR). However, patients should always consult their physicians before taking Boluoke® while on any prescriptions.

Can the content of Boluoke® capsules be emptied out and taken without the capsules?

The capsules used in Boluoke® are enteric coated capsules. They are designed to resist stomach acid and dissolve in the small intestines, because lumbrokinase may be inactivated by stomach acid. Preliminary in-house tests using Sonoclot® machine (manufactured by Sienco, Inc.) indicated that Boluoke® is still effective when taken without the capsules on an empty stomach. However, it is highly recommended that the patients take Boluoke® in its original capsulated format whenever possible.

What are the contra-indications for taking Boluoke®?

Contra-indications for Boluoke® are: allergy to lumbrokinase or earthworm; recent surgery; pre-surgery; lumbar puncture or arterial puncture; trauma; active internal bleeding or GI ulceration; any other bleeding disorders/tendencies. Patients should always consult their physicians before taking Boluoke®.

Does Boluoke® have any side effects?

The earthworm has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for a few thousand years, and is considered to be one of the safest ingredients in the traditional pharmacopoeias. The studies on Boluoke® showed that when taken at high dosage, some people may experience nausea, diarrhea, bloating, skin itch/rash, which resolved when the product was stopped.

Can Boluoke® be taken with other enzyme products?

There is a theoretical possibility that Boluoke® may be cleaved and rendered ineffective by other enzymes, so we currently do not recommend taking Boluoke® with another enzyme product at the same time. If you do have to take other enzyme products while on Boluoke®, try to space more time between the dosing of the two enzyme products (i.e. at least 2 hours).

How is Boluoke® different from other products that
contain lumbrokinase?

Boluoke® is the only lumbrokinase that has been thoroughly researched and its enzymatic strength is standardized. Other lumbrokinase products currently on the market often are citing Boluoke®’s credentials and research, and are not disclosing the enzymatic strength of their lumbrokinase. On the raw material market, the price of lumbrokinase can vary by up to 15 folds, and the enzymatic strengths of various lumbrokinase also differ greatly.

In addition, lumbrokinase is a preparation containing multiple enzyme fractions, and the extraction and purification methods would determine the final compositions of the various enzyme fractions. Therefore, different products would have different lumbrokinase compositions and cannot be considered the same. This is also the reason why Boluoke® does not significantly affect blood tests like prothrombin time (PT) or activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), while other lumbrokinase products may affect the test results.