How to Prevent Serious Blood Clots
They say motor oil is to an engine what blood is to the body. Yet, when you hear the word viscosity being used it is usually in reference to the weight of motor oil being used. But a person’s blood must be of the right thickness and consistency to be pumped by the heart and travel throughout the body. It shouldn’t be too thin, and it shouldn’t be too thick, but just right. The second extreme is much more common, and the risk of blood clots arises when there’s too much coagulating going on. Thickened blood starts clumping together. Other individuals may need blood thinner medications like Eliquis to prevent clotting.
Prevention is plenty important in these instances because runaway blood clots can cause heart attacks, strokes, and embolisms. All 3 of them can mean a short lifespan if they’re not dealt with quickly. A blood clot in the heart can be a major cause of concern. So, you may now want to know how to prevent them and how to get rid of blood clots if the problem already exists. Poor vascular health is the root of that problem most of the time, and diet can be a primary contributor.
Eating differently to eat better can be a challenge, but the Mediterranean diet is good for vascular health. And getting more of these dishes into your culinary repertoire may be something you can try to make sure you’re less at risk of blood clots and overall poor health. Blood thinner medications can be very helpful to prevent the chance of blood clotting. It’s best to take a more overarching approach to this rather than just seeing your medication as a silver bullet that lets you continue living in the same way.
Protein Stopper
Blood thinner medications like Eliquis and Coumadin, among others, tend to work in the same way. Blood becoming thicker and starting to clot is dependent on a specific protein – Factor X(10)a – working normally in the blood and regulating what type of consistency it has. Blood thinner medications work by targeting this protein and disabling certain function aspects so that it’s unable to start the clotting process.
The protein isn’t completely deactivated, and for good reason as it serves beneficial purposes for easy-flowing blood as the same time. The one exception to this will be in the case of a person having an atrial fibrillation. This is because with a fibrillation there can a chamber of the heart that quivers rather than pumping blood with authority. If blood remains in that chamber, then the chance of a blood clot is increased and that can be true even if the person is currently taking blood thinner medications.
For all these reasons and more it is important to be on top of vascular and arterial health, and especially because it’s common for a person not to know they’ve had blood clots until one of them causes a very serious health complication making its way into the heart, brain, or lungs. And unfortunately, like so many major health risks the chances of it increases as you get older. There is also believed to be a connection between the COVID-19 virus and increased risk of blood clots. And it may be a good idea for some patients recovering from COVID to go on blood thinner medications temporarily.
Add Atherosclerosis as Risk Factor
Atherosclerosis is when the artery walls become harder because of plaque buildup. Much of the time this is related to people getting too much cholesterol in their diet. When these plaques get too big and burst inside the artery, this can trigger blood clotting. As atherosclerosis becomes worse, there is a tendency for plaque buildup to become more calcified. This makes plaques even more brittle and is likely to break them up into chunks that may become clots as they move through the arterial pathways.
Sometimes the chunks end up dissolving on their own. Other times they get bigger and end up making their way into locations of the body where there is the potential for great harm. People who have had atherosclerosis for years may have physician recommendations for a course of treatment with blood thinner medications. This is particularly the case if the person is seen to be at a higher risk of blood clots due to other factors.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The above information is intended to increase awareness of health information and does not suggest treatment or diagnosis. This information is not a substitute for individual medical attention and should not be construed to indicate that use of the drug is safe, appropriate, or effective for you. See your health care professional for medical advice and treatment.
