How does aspirin "thin" blood? As we all know, aspirin doesn't actually _thin_ the blood, as it has been explained to me, it makes it "slippery". Slippery blood doesn't stick to itself hence this helps prevent internal blood clots (or allows blood to pass more easily around an existing clot). I also understand that having your blood too "slippery" can lead to the body attempting to counteract that and making it too "sticky". Anyhow, my question regarding that is this, how does aspirin work? How does it make the blood "slippery"? (If there is a more medically correct term for "slippery" and "sticky", I'm all ears). P.S. I paid the Mayo Clinic's website a visit before coming here, the information about aspirin's mechanism wasn't particularly helpful to me.

Aspirine irreversibly inhibits the enzyme cyclooxygenase. This enzyme facilitates the reaction from arachidonic acid to prostaglandin G2/H2. The further reaction leads to the generation of Thromboxane A2 which is important for the activation and aggregation of platelets. See the figure (from here) for an overview:

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Thromboxane A2 usually stimulates the activation of new platelets and increases their aggregation, with a shortage of this compound these activations are not possible and the coagulation of blood is reduced.