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Click the arrow to play audio file:Veins get no respect. Millions of Americans worry about heart attacks, which occur when arteries are blocked by a blood clot. But blood clots in veins get very little attention, although they can also be life threatening.
Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a blood clot lodges deep within the veins of the legs. When such a clot breaks loose, it can go to the lungs and become a pulmonary embolism. These can be lethal. How can DVT be prevented?
Guest: Thomas L. Ortel, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Duke University Medical Center. He is the Medical Director of the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center at Duke and Medical Director of the Clinical Coagulation Laboratory and the Platelet Antibody Laboratory at Duke, as well as the Duke Anticoagulation Clinic. He is the author (with Andra James, MD, and Victor Tapson, MD) of 100 Questions and Answers about Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism.
Patient Web site: National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia
I use a wheelchair. I've been sitting down for more than 50 years. Am I at greater risk? If so, what do you recommend?
I am an English professor and sit for hours reading and working at my computer, losing track of time. I try to exercise daily. Lately I have had this weird little contraction in a certain area in the upper left inner thigh area. No heat, no swelling, no pain or redness--just a continually contracting spot like a little muscle that continues when I sit a certain way, and sometimes when standing. Does this sound like a DVT problem?
Dear People's Pharmacy:
Your programs are excellent as usual but today's show on DVT was superb. Having a sinlge expert like today's
is the best format....your guest was first rate !!
Suggestions for future programs:
Meniere's disease
HHT ( a genetic blood disorder)
Updated show on lowering cholesterol
Thank you for a wonderful public service.
Myra Horgan
Charlottesville, VA
I just finished being treated for DVT in my calf. I work out 6 days a week, I'm under 50 and I was in excellent health. One morning I woke up and my leg was really stiff, something like if you've pulled a muscle. My blood pressure was my warning sign, it went up to 170/110 and they told me to get to the doctor right away. It had been normal the week before. My entire calf was swollen the next day but again it just felt like it was stiff and tight.
They believe I got DVT from being hit in the shin by a hard object (my dog and I collided). Blunt force trauma and airplanes are the most common ways to get DVT. My entire calf was tender when you touched it. I was told that twitching in my calf was just muscle spams and also sciatic nerve spams and they weren't related to the DVT. I still have twitching.
By the way, I also got pulmonary embolisms in both lungs because my doctor misdiagnosed the blood clot and I was massaging my leg the next night. That broke apart the clots and sent them to my lungs. Because I was in excellent health and because the clot was located in a small secondary vein I didn't have any reaction. It could have been fatal. I'm still in shock at how little I knew about all this and how lucky I am to still be alive to tell about it.
I was recently diagnosed with a DVT in the upper arm (axillary vein). I had no trauma or IV prior to it's manifestation; so no apparent cause. I am on Coumadin for three months with a followup ultrasound planned at that time. Post treatment, I'm wondering how I should proceed in terms of testing to determine the cause and also wondering if am I at greater risk for recurrence? I was checked for FactorV Leiden, which was negative.
Thank you for your informative and, for me, timely airing of this topic!
BV
Charlottesville, VA
Hello. I travel by plane for work three times per month, which essentially means about 12 flights per month.
I often feel tightness in my right calf. Doing the "chair exercises " does help, but briefly.
I take a baby aspirin twice per day (for this and general benefits), try to exercise my legs, and try not to cross my right leg over my left knee.
Is there anything else that I should be doing?
I believe, after listening to your show today (thank you very much!), that I am not actually in any real danger, but want to know if I am doing the right things to ensure that this doesn't become any worse.
Thank you,
Sam
I have had a history of blood clotting deep in my right calf. On two occasions I was without health insurance (ah, life in America!).
Because of the side effects I am unwilling to live on coumidan and related thinners so I have come up with a routine that has worked for me. I take a daily baby aspirin, vitamin C and - most importantly - garlic tablets. Garlic is extremely beneficial to the circulation in general and clotting in particular. The garlic tablets are what helped break down the clots when I was without insurance.
I do agree that if you have an active clot it is an emergency and if you have access to health care get the help right away. I also do monthly acupuncture, which helps maintain healthy blood and chi flow in my leg. When I fly I use compression stockings, move about the cabin hourly, do occasional leg muscle tensing and flexing exercises while seated, drink plenty of water, and take aspirin and garlic at the mid-point of the flight. So far, this has worked for me; it\'s been almost 12 years since my last clot.
Final observation, because my medical record has the blood clot issue, it is impossible for me to get an indvidual health insurance policy. Impossible! Fortunately, I am in a group policy through my employment but because of this and the worry that I might one day be without insurance again I actually keep from my physician what I do to self care because the more time that passes with out mention of clotting issues in my medical record the better chance I have of maybe getting insurance if I need an individual policy in the future. Here\'s my vote for national single payer health insurance for all.