If you think of thrombosis as elderly people with support stockings, you are wrong. One in a thousand Dutch people, from young to old, healthy to sick, is affected by it every year. The consequences of thrombosis are often underestimated, while the disease is known as a silent killer. Five important facts at a glance.
Suppose you bump your knee and get a wound, substances in our blood will cause your blood to clot. When the bleeding stops, antibodies ensure that the clotting stops. In thrombosis, this interaction is disrupted. Without any reason, your blood clots, resulting in a blood clot. The dangerous thing is that such a blood clot can block the blood vessels. This can immediately cause severe pain, but also causes other symptoms that many people do not recognize. Time for more clarity about this condition. This is what everyone should know about thrombosis:
1. The first signs of thrombosis are different
A blood clot can develop in different places in your body. There are different types of thrombosis. The best known are pulmonary embolism and thrombosis in the leg or arm. You will notice this immediately, because your leg or arm suddenly swells, hurts or feels heavy. Even if your skin discolors, the alarm bells should start ringing. Your skin can suddenly become very red, blue or pure white. If a blood clot ends up in your lungs, it is called a pulmonary embolism. The symptoms of a pulmonary embolism are similar to those of a myocardial infarction. You become short of breath and get pain between your shoulder blades. In the event of a heart attack, in which a blood clot completely blocks one of the branches of the coronary arteries of the heart, you may experience chest pain and pain radiating to the arm, throat or jaw.
2. Thrombosis is one of the leading causes of death
Thrombosis is one of the leading causes of death in the Netherlands. According to the Netherlands Thrombosis Foundation, one in four people in our country die from the consequences of this disease. And anyone who has ever had to deal with thrombosis still needs to be careful. After thrombosis occurs, the chance that you will die increases for years. This was evident from research by the Leiden University Medical Center.
3. Exercise helps prevent blood clots
Smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure can all increase the risk of thrombosis. Sixty percent of all forms of thrombosis in the veins occur during or after a hospital admission. If you lie down for a long time, your blood can flow less well and the chance of your blood clotting increases. Getting enough exercise is therefore one of the most important things you can do to prevent thrombosis. Quitting smoking is also important, because it makes the blood clot faster.
4. A clotting disorder in combination with the pill is dangerous
Does thrombosis run in your family or do you have a clotting disorder and are you taking the pill? That can be life-threatening. Thrombosis due to taking the pill is a rare side effect, but the chance is many times greater if you already have a hereditary predisposition to it. This emerged from a PhD study by clinical medicine assessor Liesbeth van Vlijmen of the University Medical Center Groningen. Van Vlijmen therefore advises against the contraceptive pill for this group. When you take the pill, the composition of your blood changes. Your blood then contains more female hormones and that can increase the risk of blood clots by up to four times. People with a hereditary clotting disorder lack certain proteins in their blood, which causes blood to clot more quickly. Pregnancy can also increase the risk of thrombosis in this group of women. The chance that healthy young women will develop thrombosis due to the pill is very small.
5. The older, the greater the risk of thrombosis
Anyone can get thrombosis, that is a fact. But it is true that the older you get, the greater the chance that you will encounter thrombosis. For young people the chance is one in ten thousand, for the elderly it is one in a hundred. The older you are, the more your blood tends to clot on its own. It is important that thrombosis is detected and treated in time. You will usually be given blood thinners to stop clotting and you will be advised to wear support stockings.
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2023-10-12 22:04:20
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