Cardiologist warns: blood clots can affect anyone – key risk factors
Lithuanian cardiologist Tomas Lapinskas says thrombosis can develop in anyone and explains how clots form and what increases the risk.
Although thrombosis is often thought to affect mainly older people, Lithuanian cardiologist Tomas Lapinskas says it can develop in anyone, especially when certain risk factors are present.
A thrombus is a blood clot that forms in a blood vessel. Normally, blood only clots when a person is injured – this is the body's natural defence against bleeding. However, sometimes this process goes wrong, and a clot forms inside a healthy blood vessel. This can be dangerous because the clot may block the vessel and cut off blood supply to organs, leading to a heart attack or stroke. A clot may also travel through the bloodstream to the vessels in the lungs, causing a life-threatening condition known as pulmonary embolism. Over time, a clot can damage the valves in veins, causing a leg to swell and hurt permanently.
The cardiologist highlights several groups of risk factors. Lifestyle-related factors include physical inactivity, sedentary work, overweight or obesity, smoking, and prolonged sitting without movement, such as on long flights or car journeys. Health conditions also matter – the risk of blood clots increases with cancer, cardiovascular disease, pregnancy and the postpartum period, use of contraceptive pills or hormones, and infections or inflammatory diseases.
Serious operations, especially orthopaedic surgery on the hip or knee, prolonged bed rest after surgery or illness, bone fractures, and heredity are also listed as risk factors.
