You do not have to die from a blood clot

Once a blood clot reaches vital organs like the lungs or the brain, there is little chance of survival. Doctors advise that medical checks for blood clots be done once every six months for early diagnosis, writes Harriet Birungi

The frequency of media reports about deaths from blood clots seems to be on the rise. It is as though there is no recovery from a clot once detected. But does a clot spell doom?

Dr. Matic Mima of Gulu Independent Hospital, says you should not necessarily think you are going to die when you discover that you have a blood clot because if detected on time and with the right treatment, blood clots are not necessarily a death sentence.

“It is, however, very important that the clot is detected before it travels to the lungs, heart or brain, where the consequences can be fatal,” Mima says.

She adds that the blood clot itself does not kill directly. Rather, it is the location of the blood clot and its effect on blood flow that is dangerous. If a blood clot, also known as thrombus, is suspected, the patient’s history is taken to explore risk factors or situations that might have put the patient at risk of forming a clot.

Risk factors

Mima says blood clots form when there is damage to the lining of a blood vessel, either an artery or a vein. Blood may also begin to clot if it stops moving and becomes stagnant, in what is known as immobility.

This is because when the body stops moving, the risk of blood clots increases, since muscle movement is required to pump blood towards the heart. Stagnant blood in a vein is prone to clotting.

Stagnation may occur when a person is hospitalised or bedridden after an illness or surgery. It may also occur with long trips (such as in a car, train, or plane) where hours may pass without a person getting up to walk or stretch. Injuries to the bones and casting also put the person at risk.

Pregnancy is a risk factor for forming blood clots in the legs and pelvis, since the growing uterus may slow blood flow back to the heart to a sufficient extent. There may also be a genetic or inborn error in the clotting mechanism, putting one at a greater risk of forming clots.

Owing to that, blood clots can be classified as a lifestyle disease. But, it is also important to know that other medical conditions can also cause blood clots.

“People experiencing diseases that cause narrowing of blood vessels, cholesterol plaque formation, and plaque rupture; like high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, smokers and those with family history of clots have high chances of suffering clots,” Mima adds.

Research

A recent research by the World Health Organisation shows that there is a 50% increase of incidences of blood clots in people below 30 years. Further research showed that most of these young people are office workers.

A survey of those patients found that young desk-bound professionals sit still for an average of three hours and eat lunch at their desks instead of taking the opportunity to move around, which would reduce their risk of a clot.

Furthermore, eight out of 10 young professionals spend the evening sitting on their sofas at home. Yet, after sitting for 90 minutes, the blood flow at the back of the knee drops by half and this increases the chances of developing a blood clot.

For every hour spent sitting, the risk of a blood clot increases by 10%. According to Mima, around 60,000 potentially fatal blood clots are recorded in Uganda each year. Unfortunately, there are also cases where patients die suddenly from undiscovered blood clots and these numbers are unknown.

A team of researchers from UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Centre in California, US, found that major complications after surgery were also found to raise the risk. Colon cancer patients undergoing partial removal of the colon for recurrent cancer had a 10% risk of suffering a blood clot while a patient undergoing emergency hernia repair had less than a 5% risk.

The research involved more than 470,000 patients who had undergone surgery. Their medical histories were studied to determine the factors that increase their risk of getting blood clots and help predict a patient’s risk of developing dangerous blood clots over a period of 30 days.

Early signs

• Pain, swelling and tenderness in one of your legs
   
• A heavy ache in the affected area
   
• Warm skin in the area of the clot
   
• Redness of your skin, particularly at the back of your leg, below the knee
   
• Breathlessness, which may come on gradually or suddenly
   
• Chest pain, which may become worse when you breathe in
   
• Sudden collapse