Blood clots, often referred to as blood embolism, are a serious medical condition. In our body, arteries, veins, and capillaries make up the circulatory system that carries nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. When thrombosis forms, blood flow in these blood vessels is blocked, causing the tissues and organs involved to lack the necessary nutrients and oxygen, triggering a state of ischemia and hypoxia.
The formation of blood clots may have no obvious symptoms in the early stages, but over time, the circulatory system will gradually be affected. If left untreated, this condition can have serious health implications, including but not limited to heart disease, stroke, and other circulatory diseases. Therefore, early identification and treatment of thrombosis is crucial.
If you have these abnormalities in your hands and feet, be alert for blood clots:
Weakness and paresthesias in the hands and feet
Sometimes you may feel weakness and numbness in your hands and feet, and you may even find it difficult to lift one side of your hands and feet properly. This can affect your walking balance, leading to tilting, stomping, or even falling. You may also feel numbness in your tongue and lips.
Pain in the arms and legs
When a blood clot forms in the body, it can cause an inflammatory response, which can cause swelling and pain in the arms and legs. Over time, this pain may intensify and be accompanied by a cramping sensation.
Edema of the lower extremities
Deep vein thrombosis particularly affects the lower extremities, causing unequal degrees of edema on the affected side or bilaterally. This edema may not subside even at rest.
Intermittent claudication
Blood clots in the lower extremities can cause vascular ischemia, which means you may feel leg pain when walking. Initially, this pain may be relieved after rest, but if you continue to walk, the pain will reappear. This phenomenon is known as "intermittent claudication". As the blockage of the blood vessels worsens, it may be painful even when you are still or not.
How do we "plug" our blood vessels little by little?
Optimize your diet Xi maintain vascular health: Excessive intake of nutrients, especially fats and nutrients, can cause them to accumulate in the body, especially in the blood vessels. Not only does this impair the health of the blood vessels, but it can also increase the viscosity of the blood and sometimes even cause blockages in the blood vessels.
Adjust the taste of the diet to prevent vascular disease: Excessive consumption of sweet or savory foods can damage the cells of the blood vessel wall, causing their surface to become unsmooth. This increases the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Increase physical activity and promote blood circulation: Lack of adequate physical activity can hinder the elimination of metabolic waste products from the body, leading to the accumulation of fat, cholesterol and sugar in the blood, which increases the consistency of the blood. This can lead to the formation of dangerous plaque in the blood vessels.
Arrange work and rest reasonably to protect blood vessel function: Staying up late often will put people in a state of high stress for a long time, and frequently secrete hormones such as adrenaline, which will lead to abnormal constriction of blood vessels, which is not good for blood vessel health. In addition, staying up late may also lead to an increase in the number of white blood cells in the body, increasing the risk of inflammation of the blood vessel wall and hardening of the arteries.
Maintain a good mood and avoid vascular damage: Long-term negative emotions, such as anger, depression or anxiety, can activate the neuroendocrine system and platelets, accelerating the aging and damage of blood vessels. This can also lead to spasm of blood vessels, which increases the risk of blood clots.
How can I prevent clogged blood vessels?
Diet: Aim for light, drink plenty of water, reduce greasy, salty and sweet intake, and avoid spicy foods. Proper supplementation of vitamins, minerals and protein.
Xi: Quit smoking, stop drinking, maintain regular exercise, develop a positive attitude, and control blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
For patients with moderate to severe vascular obstruction and pre-existing symptoms, medication is needed to prevent further blockage in addition to the dietary and lifestyle modifications described above. This includes:
Medications: Lipid-lowering drugs (eg, statins) to stabilize plaque in blood vessels and antiplatelet drugs (eg, aspirin) to prevent platelet aggregation.
Surgical intervention: if necessary, vascular occlusion can be prevented by surgical procedures, such as the installation of an inferior vena cava filter to prevent pulmonary thrombosis, or the placement of a stent at a severely blocked blood vessel.