Many people think that blood clots only occur in middle-aged and elderly people, but as modern people have more and more bad lifestyle and eating habits, blood clots are becoming more and more frequent in young people.
01. A 16-year-old boy was lying down playing with his mobile phone for a long time, and his thromboembolism was nearly 80 cm
16-year-old Xiao Kai (pseudonym) is a heavy mobile phone enthusiast who will lie in bed for about 10 hours a day to play games, hardly leave the bed except for eating, and never remember to drink water once a day when playing with his mobile phone.
A few days ago, his right leg suddenly appeared swollen and discolored, so his parents hurriedly took him to the doctor, and after a contrast examination, Xiao Kai found that his legs were full of blood clots, and the embolism was up to 80cm!
After more than an hour of surgery, most of the blood clots on Xiao Kai's legs were removed, but a small part was still attached to the blood vessel wall. The doctor told him that after he was discharged from the hospital, he must play less games, exercise more, and drink more water.
02. A 21-year-old man had a heart attack and was pulled out of 10 blood clots
Xiao Cheng, 21 years old this year, is only 1.7 meters tall, but weighs as high as 200 pounds, often stays up late to play games, and is too lazy to move.
The night before yesterday, when Xiao Cheng was playing a game, he suddenly felt chest tightness and shortness of breath, so his parents hurriedly took him to the emergency department, after examination, Xiao Cheng was diagnosed with myocardial infarction and urgently needed to open the coronary artery, although the parents were incredulous, how could their son have a heart attack at such a young age, but they could only follow the doctor's advice.
After the operation, the doctor removed a total of 10 blood clots from Xiaocheng's body, but fortunately, the doctor was treated in time, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
1. How thrombosis is formed, three factors to understand
When it comes to thrombosis, many people will talk about "thrombosis", which is the source of various cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction and pulmonary embolism.
When there is a blood clot in the blood vessels, it will affect the normal blood circulation, and the various tissues and organs in the body cannot get sufficient blood supply, which will cause abnormal function and cell death.
Sun Yihong, chief physician of the cardiology department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said that according to the part of the occurrence, thromboembolic diseases can be divided into three types: venous thrombosis, arterial thrombosis and cardiac thrombosis:
Venous thrombosis: Venous thrombosis is known as the "silent killer" because it is likely to cause no symptoms or sensations after it develops, but it carries a great fatal risk if it occurs. Venous thrombosis mainly blocks the lungs, and the common pulmonary embolism is caused by deep vein thrombosis of the lower limbs, which is more common in people who are bedridden for a long time and have little activity.
Arterial thrombosis: Arterial thrombosis is the most common in the heart and blood vessels, and once it is blocked, it will cause coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, etc., which seriously threatens the life safety of patients.
Cardiac thrombosis: patients with atrial fibrillation are most likely to develop cardiac thrombosis, who are at greater risk of developing cardiac chamber thrombosis due to abnormal atrial contractile activity. Once the blood clot in the heart chamber breaks off, it can cause blockage of the cerebral blood vessels, inducing cerebral embolism.
There are three main causes of thrombosis, one is blood viscosity, which is related to factors such as too little water intake, use of contraceptives, and estrogen therapy. In addition, it is also related to changes in blood composition, such as increased platelet count, hyperplatelet dysfunction and abnormal thrombin, which may cause blood clots in blood vessels; second, blood vessel wall damage, such as long-term smoking and drinking, nicotine in cigarettes, alcohol in alcohol will damage the vascular intima, and platelets are easy to adhere to form thrombosis after intimal loss; third, blood flow slows down, which is related to sitting and lying down for a long time.
Liu Jian, chief physician of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine of Peking University People's Hospital, reminded that people who have just undergone surgery, long-term bed rest/lack of exercise, pregnant women and people taking contraceptives/hormone drugs have a higher risk of blood clots, and they must be more vigilant every day.
2. There are 4 abnormalities in the hands and feet, or the thrombosis has come
Human blood vessels will gradually age with age, if you do not pay attention to the maintenance of blood vessels, the plaque in the blood vessels may become larger and larger, resulting in thrombosis blockage, therefore, when the limbs appear the following 4 symptoms, we must be vigilant.
1. Intermittent claudication and pain
Blockage of blood vessels can cause intermittent claudication and painful symptoms, which will appear after walking for a period of time, be relieved after rest, and reappear again after continuing walking. This is because blood clots cause insufficient blood supply to the lower limbs, inducing symptoms of muscle pain. As the disease progresses, it will evolve into pain symptoms such as not walking.
2. Unilateral edema of the lower limbs
When there is a blood clot in the body, the blood cannot flow to the heart, and the large amount of pressure causes the fluid to spread into the leg tissues, which manifests as unilateral limb edema, usually below the knee.
3. Numbness of one limb
Sudden onset of numbness in one hand, accompanied by numbness in the ipsilateral face and lower limbs, requires a high level of suspicion and may be caused by stroke. Due to the blockage of arteries caused by thrombosis, the brain will have transient cerebral ischemia, and with the prolongation of ischemia time, it will cause unilateral persistent numbness in the hands, feet, and limbs.
4. The color changes
The blockage of arterial blood vessels will make the blood in the body unable to get good circulation, especially in the lower limbs, there will be a change in color, such as blue-purple, red and blue, etc., and there will be pain and whitish symptoms.
3. If you don't want your blood vessels to be blocked, you should keep your mouth shut about 4 kinds of food
There is a lot to do with clogged blood vessels and bad lifestyle habits, especially diet, and these foods must be eaten as little as possible.
1. High-salt food
Excessive intake of high-salt foods will increase the risk of high blood pressure, which will bring continuous pressure to blood vessels, resulting in a decrease in the elasticity of blood vessels, increasing blood vessel permeability, and easy deposition of fats, cholesterol and other substances on blood vessels, which in turn will cause blood clots.
2. High-fat foods
Foods with high fat content, such as lard, butter, coconut oil and other foods are rich in saturated fat, which will increase the level of LDL cholesterol in the body, which will accumulate in the arteries to form arteriosclerotic plaque and promote the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases.
3. High-cholesterol foods
Excessive intake of high-cholesterol foods can easily increase the risk of hyperlipidemia, and it is also easy to cause obesity and bring all-round harm to the body. High-cholesterol foods are mostly all kinds of animal offal, various poultry egg yolks and some dried seafood products such as dried squid, shrimp skin, dried shrimp, etc., so you should eat less.
4. Trans fatty acid foods
Trans fatty acids increase LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol levels, which is extremely detrimental to vascular health. Trans fatty acids are mostly found in processed foods, fast food, fried foods, french fries, chicken nuggets, various cakes and desserts, and coffee mates, so they should be avoided in ordinary times.
The appearance of blood clots will bring great hidden dangers to health, and the prevention of blood clots should start now. People who already have blood clots in their bodies should also pay attention not to blindly listen to home remedies and follow the doctor's instructions for standardized treatment.
Resources:
[1] "Xiamen Heart Experts Say丨Three Reasons, Be Careful of Blood Clots!", Cardiovascular Hospital Affiliated to Xiamen University, 2023-04-28
[2] "Blood clots are most likely to be blocked in these 3 places of the body!One action to measure whether your blood vessels are blocked or not".Popular Science China, 2023-10-19
[3] "Blood clots are most afraid of these 5 types of food, tell your family to eat more!". Popular Science China 2023-12-02
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