Blood clots are two scary words that people like to throw around. They sound ominous, dangerous, and they are almost always used in conjunction with pulmonary embolism, stroke, or heart attack. But the fact is that blood clots are a natural method that the body uses to help itself to heal. Without blood clots, we would all be in some dire straits if we ever got cut, poked, or bruised.
What Are Blood Clots?
Blood clots are simply a coagulation of blood cells. The process begins when the platelets notice that there has been damage to a blood vessel. They quickly flock to the site, stick together, and form a plug that halts the bleeding out of the damaged section.
After the plug has stopped the bleeding the job isnt over yet. By releasing a chemical the platelet can cause the blood cells themselves to start clumping together. When the blood clots it forms a protective barrier around the damaged section, and repair work can begin on the blood vessel to restore it to full functionality.
Blood clots happen every single day. In fact, we can see a lot of them. Have you ever gotten a scratch that scabbed over? That scab is nothing more than an external blood clot. That particular clot dries out to protect the cut from the outside, while a clot on the inside protects the area from the inside.
After the damage to the blood vessel has been fixed, the chemicals from the platelets wear off and the clot naturally disseminates in the blood. This happens every single day without us ever knowing about it. The problematic blood clots, the big scary ones, happen when something goes wrong in the process.
What are Dangerous Blood Clots?
The formation of a dangerous blood clot is essentially the same as the good ones. The difference is, however, that the dangerous blood clots dont disseminate as they should. Either they are too big, form in blood that has become stagnant (such as those who are sitting too much and either unwilling or unable to exercise), or for whatever reason they dont break apart and reintegrate into the blood stream.
These blood clots break away from the vessel wall and re-enter circulation. When the blood vessels become smaller, for instance to reach into different parts of the brain, the clots are too big to pass through the smaller vessels. This blocks the blood flow and that portion of the body stops getting the blood that it needs. If its near the brain it results in a stroke, near the heart results in a heart attack, near the lungs results in pulmonary embolism, and so on.
How to Prevent Deadly Blood Clots
The best way to prevent clots is to have an active lifestyle. This reduces the plaque buildup in the vessels and keeps them large enough for loose clots to flow through while they break apart. With a healthy diet and active lifestyle those blood clots will be kept to a minimum.
Many people like to use a blood thinner to prevent clots. While these thinners can be effective, especially for those who simply cannot move around enough (those who have recently undergone knee or hip surgery for instance), they can be dangerous. The blood thinner prevents the good clots as well as the bad, so if there is any internal bleeding the body cannot heal itself. Many people who have used blood thinners have been hospitalized with uncontrollable internal bleeding.
Most blood clots are natural and helpful to the body. When we dont take care of ourselves, however, they can become a problem. They lead to deadly conditions, and even trying to prevent those deadly conditions can lead to another deadly condition. By eating right, exercising enough, and avoiding dangerous activities like smoking, over drinking, and the like, we can minimize the risk of deadly blood clots without drugs.
