Prevention of Blood Clots

Blood is the lifeline of the human body. In normal conditions, it has to flow through the veins and arteries from one organ to another to keep them working all the time. It is also left with the incredible task of clotting when a trauma or cut on the skin or where it flows happens. This process stops blood from flowing out, thereby preventing excessive blood loss which can have serious effect the operations in the body. There are times that blood clots happen unnecessarily, and this can result to a serious health condition. This is the case of those people who suffer from heart attacks and strokes.

In normal conditions, blood clot happens due to chemical interactions. Blood platelets are triggered or are signaled when a vein, vessel or artery suffers trauma or injury like cuts. These tiny bits of blood releases chemicals that signal and attract other platelets to stick together on the vessel walls to form a mass or plug, substituting the area where the break happens. By doing so, the blood is prevented from leaking out of the vessel. The clot gets stronger with the help of the proteins that are in the blood that turns into fibrin. Its presence tangles with the platelets, forming a trap net for other cells and platelets. As the tissue heals, the body dissolves the fibrin and the blood absorbs back the platelets and cells in the clot.

Complications of Blood Clots

The body has specific substances that signals the blood when the wall of the blood vessel or the skin breaks open. As soon as the blood and these substances touch, they start the blood clots process. These same substances are also found in cholesterol plaques which are usually forming inside the major heart and brain arteries of the body. Now, if these plaque breaks open, these will signal the blood to start the clotting procedure. The process will disrupt the free flow of blood into the heart and brain thus heart attacks and/or strokes happen.

Other forms of complications of blood clots are DVT or deep vein thrombosis and atrial fibrillation. These are conditions where the blood is abnormally moving slowly in the blood vessels thereby pooling happens and hence, the clotting.

Prevention of Blood Clots

  • Healthy diet. To prevent blood clots, it is important to indulge in a balanced and healthy diet which will prevent the buildup of cholesterol plaque in the arteries of the body. . Once these plaques breaks open, the person is at risk to its complications like stroke and heart attack.
  • Blood clots medicines. Aspirin, Brilinta or Ticagrelor, Effient or Prasugrel, Persantine or Dipyridamole, Plavix or Clopidogrel, and Ticlid or Ticlopidine are anti- clotting medicines. They can be prescribed as suggested by medical practitioners, and may be obtained either over the counters or through prescriptions.
  • Blood thinners. Coumadin or Warfarin, Eliquis or Apixaban, Heparin, Pradaxa or Dabigatran, Savaysa or Edoxaban, and Xarelto or Rivaroxaban are the usual blood thinners that doctors recommend to their patients.