Your body always protects you from many things. One of the best thing can be blood clotting. When you are injured the blood gets clotted in a few seconds. This helps to prevent excess bleeding from your body, but there are times when blood clotting can be very dangerous.
If you have gone through some surgeries such as a heart valve surgery, your doctor might have prescribe you with a blood thinner. Due to these surgeries there are chances of life- threatening blood clots, which can even cause a stroke or even a heart attack. This can also happen if you have an irregular heart rhythm or a congenital heart defect. Therefore, blood thinners helps to lessen the chance of blood clotting.
What are Blood Clots?
These jelly-like masses of blood form after a bodily injury, to prevent excessive bleeding. Platelets and proteins in the plasma work together to form a clot in the injured area. Typically the body dissolves the clot after the injury has healed. On occasion, clots form inside arteries or veins without injury and don’t dissolve on their own. These can lead to stroke or pulmonary embolism. Clots are serious and require accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Arteries divert the oxygenated blood from the heart, while veins return oxygen-depleted blood into the heart. Therefore, it is both in veins and arteries that blood clots can form and grow. Be aware of your body. It is better to do some check-ups regularly.
As said earlier blood clots can cause stroke or heart attack. Blood vessel clots are created in the arteries, they can obstruct your oxygen and blood from entering your essential organs. Blood vessel clots mostly appear in the feet and legs. It can also be formed in the cerebrum as well.
Risk Factors for Blood Clots:
- Diabetes
- Increased blood pressure
- Increased cholesterol
- Lack of exercise and movement
- Obesity
- Smoking
According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention):
It states that more than 130,000 Americans are killed each year because of stroke. And that’s 1 out of every 20 deaths. Every 40 seconds someone in United States has a stroke and every 4 minutes a person dies due to stroke. Annually, 795,000 people in the Unites states have a stroke. About 610,000 of these are new or also said as first strokes. Nearly 1 of 4 are people who have had a previous stroke and that’s about 185,000 strokes. About 87% of strokes are because of blood flow to the brain is blocked. These strokes are ischemic. Stroke costs the United States an estimated $33 billion each year. This total includes the cost of health care services, medicines to treat stroke, and missed days of work. Stroke reduces mobility in more than half of stroke survivors age 65 and over. Strokes even leads to a serious long-term disability.
Types of Blood Clots: Arterial and Venous
Arterial Blood Clots
Blood clots can occur in arteries or veins. Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart, while veins return oxygen-depleted blood to the heart. Arterial clots form in the arteries and can block oxygen and blood from reaching vital organs. Arterial clots often form in the feet and legs; they can also occur in the brain leading to a stroke or in the heart leading to a heart attack.
Symptoms of Arterial Clots:
- Cold extremities including fingers and toes.
- Discoloration of the concerned area.
- Tension, pain and spasms of the muscles.
- Tingling or numbness in your extremities.
- Weakness of the concerned area.
Venous Blood Clots
These clots are formed in the veins and they have a tendency to develop slowly. Venous clots are more likely to develop after a surgery or trauma such a broken leg.
There are three types of clots that form in the veins:-
- DVT (Deep Veins Thrombosis) – This clot usually happens in the lower leg, thigh or pelvis, but they can also happen in other areas of the body such as the arm, brain, intestines, kidney or liver.
- PE (Pulmonary Embolism) – This is a DVT that has broken off the point of origin and can travel to the lungs. This can be fatal.
- Superficial venous thrombosis- This type of clot forms in a vein close to the skin’s surface, these can be painful and require treatment.
Symptoms of Venous Clot:
- Blushy skin covering the concerned vein.
- Aching, swollen or inflamed skin covering the concerned. Vein.
- Vein that is too sensitive to be touched.
- Arm or Leg – Sudden or slow agony, sensitivity, swelling, warmth and hair loss.
- Abdomen – Intense stomachache, throwing up and abnormal stool.
- Brain – Weakness of the face, arm or leg muscles, trouble speaking, vision issues, sudden and extreme headache, nausea.
- Heart – Chest pain, distress in different zones of the abdominal area, shortness of breath, sweating, sickness, mind fog
- Lung – Sharp chest torment, accelerated heartbeat, fever, shortness of breath, sweating and coughing blood
4 Blood Clot Contributors
- Poor diet (GMOs, processed foods, sugars and artificial sweeteners, Trans fats and refined carbohydrates).
- Inactive lifestyle.
- Smoking tobacco products.
- Hormone, blood pressure or cancer medications.
6 Supplements for Blood Thinning
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids – Foods packed with omega 3, for example: fish, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts or pills.
- Vitamin E – These foods are rich in vitamin E: almonds, avocado, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, butternut squash and kiwi.
- Natural anti-microbial – Like garlic, olive oil, and onions.
- Gingko – Reduces fibrin content which is a protein that creates blood clots.
- Bilberry, Ginger, and Turmeric – Prevent blood clump development.
- Vitamin C – Powerful cancer prevention agent maintaining stable vascular health.
There are also some ingredients found in nature that some believe help reduce the risk of clotting. However, they haven’t been tested and compared against prescription blood thinners. You may want to talk to your doctor about the following natural remedies which have been reported to help thin the blood. Again, never take them instead of or with your prescription blood thinning medication.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a long used folk medicine. It is also a frequently used spice in Asian countries that gives curry dishes a yellow color. According to a study, the main curative ingredient, cur cumin, works on platelets to prevent clots from forming.
Ginger
Ginger is in the same family as turmeric and contains salicylate, an acid found in many plants. Acetyl salicylic acid, derived from salicylate and usually called aspirin, can help you to prevent stroke. Foods with salicylate, such as avocados, some berries, chilies, and cherries, can also keep blood from clotting.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon contains coumarin, it is a chemical that acts as a powerful anticoagulant. Cinnamon and its close cousin, cassia, are both widely available and both of these contain these chemicals. When ingested with cinnamon and cassia, coumarin may also lower blood pressure and relieve inflammation caused by arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. However, studies done in humans don’t provide evidence cinnamon of use for any health-related condition. Some researchers show that highly consuming of cinnamon can cause liver damage. Be careful when using cinnamon as a blood thinner. Foods such as cinnamon breads and teas should be minimized.
Cayenne peppers
Cayenne peppers can have a powerful blood-thinning effect on your body because of the high amount of salicylates in them. Cayenne peppers can be taken in capsules or easily ground up as a spice for food. In addition to thinning your blood, cayenne peppers can lower your blood pressure and increase circulation.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E has been reported to be a mild anticoagulant.
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