Are You at Risk For Blood Clots?
Are You at Risk For Blood Clots?
Are You at Risk For Blood Clots?
Summer is once once more here and several of my patients are traveling on vacations, or visiting friends and relatives across the country. Before they are going, however, I like to grant them some pre-travel recommendation regarding a doubtless serious medical condition that can occur with long periods of sitting in cars, trains, and airplanes... blood clots.
Up to 600,000 Americans develop clots each year with 1 in three persons developing serious medical complications from them. I'd wish to share with you a similar advice I offer my patients about the symptoms and risk factors for developing blood clots and how you can forestall them.
What Are Blood Clots?
They are clumps of debris or fat, coagulated blood, or maybe surgical materials, among veins. They will start in the legs and travel at intervals the vein system to the brain, heart or lungs and cause a heart attack, stroke, or pulmonary embolism.
What Are The Symptoms of A Blood Clot?
The symptoms of a clot are varied, depending upon their origin, however nearly perpetually embody sudden and/or severe pain at the site. All need immediate medical attention. Here's a listing of the common sorts of clots and their symptoms:
Legs: Blood clots within the legs can usually be overlooked as a pulled muscle, as they can feel like a "Charlie Horse" sort of cramp. Search for swelling of the leg, warmth to bit, redness or bluish discoloration, pain.
Lungs: Sudden onset of shortness of breath. A stabbing, sharp chest pain that gets worse with deep breaths, quick heart beat and/or an unexplained cough which will contain blood.
Heart: A clot that has traveled to the guts can give the symptoms of a heart attack, severe, crushing-type chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Brain: A clot that has traveled to the brain is termed an ischemic stroke, which is a blockage of blood flow. Its symptoms can include severe/sudden headache, confusion, blurred vision, dizziness, weakness on one facet of the body, loss of balance or coordination/inability to steer, inability to talk or perceive language.
Kidneys: Not as common as leg or lung blood clots, but kidney clots do occur. The symptoms are sharp pain within the lower back, sometimes on one aspect, inability to urinate, high blood pressure, retention of fluid, swollen ankles, and shortness of breath.
What Are The Risk Factors for Blood Clots?
Anyone will get a clot at any time, but typically the risks are highest with the following:
Recent major surgery within the abdominal or pelvic space
Prolonged bed rest during a hospital, nursing home over three days
Knee and hip joint replacement
Major trauma to the body such as an auto accident or serious fall
Pregnancy, or recent childbirth
Other moderate, nevertheless still very important, risks embrace:
Age - over sixty five
Smoking
Long sitting throughout travel in an exceedingly automobile, plane, train, bus
Dehydration - inadequate water intake can cause blood to coagulate
Underneath going chemotherapy
Birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy
Genetic predisposition
Obesity/sedentary lifestyle
What Can I Do To Stop Blood Clots?
Avoiding a blood clot involves reducing your risk factors where possible. Normally, the subsequent pointers will help you forestall blood clots:
Quit smoking. Period.
If you travel for long periods, take an "exercise" break where you rise up and walk around for many minutes each two hours of travel. This can be easier to try to to in automotive or bus travel, not so easy in an exceedingly plane or train. However, you can get on my feet from your seat and walk to the restroom, and/or the club automotive once in a very while. Shift your position in your seat, doing leg carry exercises, or ankle rotation exercises at your seat can also help.
If you're overweight and sedentary, create some healthy, nutritional, diet changes and find up and exercise for at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day. This may be done by taking a walk, riding a bike, Wii FIT in your living room, something that gets you up and your blood moving.
Stay hydrated! Drinking the correct amount of water everyday is one in every of the healthiest things you'll be able to do for yourself for many reasons. Drink half your body weight in water every day, and a very little a lot of if you consume caffeine. Your blood wants water to stay at an optimum density which is not therefore thick as to make clots and not so skinny on run too freely and cause profuse bleeding if you chop yourself.
Notice out your clotting time. A easy blood test at your doctor's office will reveal if you have blood clotting problems present. You will need to make dietary changes (less vitamin K containing foods, take supplements that don't contain it) to assist you forestall a clot from forming.
Vitamin E - An occasional dose, two hundred mg a day, will facilitate forestall blood clots from forming.
Hormones - if you take birth management pills and you are over the age of 35, you'll want to contemplate another type of birth control. Similarly, if you are menopausal and on HRT, speak to your doctor about your risk for blood clots. Switch to physician-prescribed bioidentical hormones that have much lower risks for serious aspect effects than animal or synthetic derived hormones.
Blood clots can be scary business. Simply knowing the symptoms of a blood clot will buy time in getting medical attention quickly. Though you'll not be able to avoid sure high risk factors such as surgeries and/or prolonged hospital rest which will unexpectedly arise in your life, just trying your best to measure a healthy lifestyle the rest of the time will facilitate decrease your risk significantly. Happy, fun, and safe summer travels!
Sonic The Hedgehog Adventure Dx- Director's Cut Sonic Adventure 2- Battle Having Fun Comes In Many Different Flavors The dangers of Margaine Canadian Ponzi Scheme Gone Bad Dealing With Specialist Out Of Gauge Shipments YGM Coal Mill A Versatile Iptv Tester Performs Adsl Test Direct Debit - Making Life Easier How to Install a Water Purifier The Virgin Suicide What causes adult bedwetting? Different Ways In Cooking Salmon