Clots in deep veins (what are called deep
vein thromboses or DVTs) in the legs are fast becoming an increasing problem
out there mainly because we now have so many more people with major risk
factors for DVTS – aging adults (and I now figure that a great number of baby
boomers qualify as aged adults, even though boomers fight oh-so valiantly to
avoid that designation), obesity, periods of long travel both on flights and by
car in confined spaces (the so-called economy class syndrome although studies
show that even the snoots up in business and first class are also at risk of
DVT on long flights, which are generally distinguished as anything longer than
4 hours, Vancouver-to-Toronto, in other words, yet another reason to avoid
flying to Toronto), cancer survivors, women on birth control pills, and a host
of others.
And the reason you want to really prevent A
DVT is that it can fast turn into a life-threatening emergency if a piece of
that clot breaks off and travels in the blood stream into the lungs, where it
becomes what’s known as a pulmonary embolus, a very serious condition with a
significant mortality rate.
So the news is that a new study has turned
up yet another important risk factor for DVT: an infection.
In this study done on seniors, researchers
concluded that 50 % of the seniors admitted for a DVT had had an infection just
before the admission.
And the news to take away from this finding
is that although this study was done on seniors, there’s no reason to conclude
that younger people who are already at some risk for a DVT – say a woman on
birth control pills, or someone who’s significantly overweight, etc. – are now at
even higher risk for a DVT after an infection, so just take that into account
when flying, for example, of doing anything else that may raise your risk for a
DVT.
