blood clots?

Question

what are blood clots? how are they formed? what are the dangers of blood clots?

Answer 1

What is a clot?
The blood clotting system is activated when a blood vessel is injured. Platelets circulating nearby respond first by sticking to the injured area and recruiting more platelets to the site. This aggregation of platelets forms a temporary plug that protects the vessel wall from further bleeding. At the same time, additional proteins are activated in a specific order that lead to the formation of a tissue glue known as fibrin. Fibrin is laid down at the site of the platelet plug, making it secure. Eventually, scar tissue forms completing the healing of the injured vessel.

What acquired conditions can lead to dangerous clots?
There are many acquired conditions that increase the risk for dangerous clot formation. Some cannot be avoided such as increasing age, recovering from major surgery, or a period of immobilization as a necessary treatment for another medical condition. Pregnancy and surgical immobilization are periods of increased risk for clot formation. In other cases, lifestyle changes can reduce risks such as those associated with smoking and obesity. The use of oral contraceptives is also a risk factor for women. These risk factors are cumulative. For instance, an elderly individual who smokes and has a lower leg fracture requiring immobilization would have a very high chance of developing a dangerous clot in the lower leg.

Acquired Risk Factors for Thrombosis
• Physiologic Factors
- After a major surgery
- Increasing age
- Bed rest or immobilization
- Obesity
- Pregnancy

• Medications
- Oral Contraceptives (Birth Control Pills)
- Some Chemotherapies (Anti-cancer drugs)

• Disease State
- Cancer
- Diabetes Mellitus

Why are some clots dangerous?
Under certain circumstances the balance between clot formation and breakdown is disturbed and an unregulated clot forms within our veins or arteries. Sometimes these unregulated clots can become so large that they obstruct the blood flow through that vessel. This can interfere with the blood supply to vital tissues or lead to a backup or pooling of blood behind the clot. This can cause pain and swelling of the tissue in the area and can lead to permanent tissue damage. Clots can grow very fast and can break apart sending small pieces of the clot (known as emboli) through the blood stream. These emboli can then become lodged in smaller vessels throughout remote areas of the body. An emboli lodging within vessels of the lung is known as a pulmonary embolus. An emboli lodging in brain vessels can cause a stroke. Both can be life threatening.

How common are dangerous clots?
Thankfully dangerous clots are unusual. Unfortunately we do not have any accurate estimates of the true incidence of abnormal clotting in the general population. Less than 5 individuals in 100 will develop a dangerous clot over the course of their lifetime.

Answer 2

Typically, thrombosis (clotted blood in a vessel, usually a vein) occurs when the following things are present: 1) stasis (sludging of the blood, as in poor circulation, prolonged sitting as in transcontinental airline flights), 2) hypercoagulability (often just moderate to severe dehydration is enough) and 3) a lesion on the inner lining of the blood vessel.

Surgical (even laproscopic) injury or other injury to the knee is a prime setup for this to happen. The major danger is that when the clot matures and shrinks away from the vessel wall, it can dislodge, and travel unimpeded to the lungs where, if it is large enough, can suddenly and completely stop blood flow to the lungs. Symptoms would include shortness of breath after leg pain. The problem arises in the fact that a lot of these happen in someone who has injured/had surgery on a leg, and expects some degree of pain. Therefore self-assessment of the leg pain is mediated by the fact that there is already some pain there. Fatal close to 100% of the time if all blood flow ceases. Treatable most of the time if the clots hitting the lung are small enough.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

you should maximum defiantly see a health practitioner once conceivable! in case you've been pregnant and are miscarrying there is an danger that you had a "incomplete" miscarriage the position the fetus isn't completely expelled from interior you. that may deliver about extreme an infection!

Answer 5

its when your bloods drys up and is stuck in your vain and just start to clog up you vain, they can be formed by lots of things mainly not taking care of your self by eating all the wrong foods, and they can cause hartattatacks and your body to shut down