Your DVT MoT... How to find out if you have a 血 clot

By Bonnie Estridge
Updated: 22:04 BST, 30 January 2010

Every 患者 認める to hospital is to be checked for 血 clots, it was 発表するd last week. 現在／一般に, 25,000 die every year because of 深い vein thrombosis (DVT) - clots that usually occur in the 脚 and can spread to the 肺s. And each year, one in 1,000 develop a DVT. Although 空気／公表する travel is often 非難するd, the 危険 it 提起する／ポーズをとるs is smaller than several other factors, 含むing age, family history, inactivity and obesity.

WHAT HAPPENS WITH A DVT?

Clots occur in veins - 血 大型船s that take 血 to the heart. Many can be seen below the 肌's surface but the 深い veins in which clots may form are large ones inside the muscles of the calf and thigh and are not 明白な. A DVT may 部分的に／不公平に or 完全に 封鎖する the vein, thus 狭くするing it and slowing the flow of 血. The calf muscle is the most 一般的に 影響する／感情d area, although the thigh vein and pelvic veins may also be 伴う／関わるd.

At 危険: Sarah Parmenter smoked and took the Pill

HOW WOULD I KNOW IF I HAD ONE?

The most typical symptoms are 苦痛, tenderness and swelling of the calf muscle (at the 支援する of the 脚, below the 膝) and the area may look red and feel warm because the 血 that would 普通は go through the vein that is 封鎖するd is コースを変えるd to outer veins. But いつかs there are no symptoms, as the clot may be やめる small and the DVT is 診断するd only if a 複雑化 such as a pulmonary embolism occurs.

WHAT IS A PULMONARY EMBOLISM?

If the clot - or part of it - breaks away, it will travel through the bloodstream (an embolus) to the 肺. This is a pulmonary embolism which can 原因（となる） breathing problems, che st 苦痛s and even sudden death if the embolus is large. An 概算の one in ten people with an untreated DVT may develop an embolism large enough to kill them.

WHAT ARE THE TREATMENTS?

Anticoagulants such as warfarin are used to thin the 血 and stop clots forming. 注射s of heparin that also thin the 血 may be used too. Heparin is given to many 患者s を受けるing 外科 to 減ずる the 危険 of DVT. There is a 罰金 line between stopping the 血 from clotting and thinning it too much, which could 原因（となる） 内部の bleeding. The length of time anticoagulants must be taken depends on whether the 患者 has an 増加するd 危険 of having another DVT.

REDUCE YOUR RISK OF DVT

• 避ける long periods of immobility in general - sitting at a desk for hours on end, 運動ing for hours without a break or 簡単に sitting in a 議長，司会を務める for hours could 原因（となる） a 血 clot to form.
• Take daily walks - the 政府 推薦 is 30 minutes a day, at least five days a week.
• 存在 overweight 増加するs your 危険 of a DVT - if you have a BMI (団体／死体 集まり 索引) of 30 or over you should try to lose 負わせる.
• Do not smoke, 特に if you take oral contraceptives. Both carry individual 危険s but when 連合させるd that 増加するs その上の.
• On 航空機 wear 'flight socks' which 援助（する） the flow of 血 through the 深い veins. You should keep as active as possible while in the 空気／公表する, taking たびたび（訪れる） walks up and 負かす／撃墜する the aisle.
• Make sure you stay 井戸／弁護士席 hydrated and drink plenty of 非，不，無-アル中患者 fluids while travelling.

I thought I was fit - but I had clots on both 肺s

Just before Christmas last year, Sarah Parmenter, pictured above - a 40-year-old PR (n)役員／(a)執行力のある from Manchester - was on a work trip to London when she began to have chronic, sharp, stabbing 苦痛s on the 権利 味方する of her chest. She took a cab to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and was immedi ately 認める on to the 激烈な／緊急の 区 where she was 設立する to have 血 clots on both her 肺s.

'I was shocked,' says Sarah. 'I was in good physical 形態／調整 - I run 定期的に, eat healthily and 穏健な my drinking and smoking. But my breathing was agony and I could barely speak, let alone stand.'

An MRI ざっと目を通す 確認するd a pulmonary embolism.

'In hindsight, I see that I had a couple of tell-tale symptoms. Firstly, I was getting a little breathless on my short runs - unusual as I'm pretty fit - also, I fainted on a night out a couple of weeks before. 治療 焦点（を合わせる）d around thinning my 血 to 妨げる その上の clotting and I was given 注射s of heparin into my stomach and then warfarin tablets.'

Professor Paul Edwards, a vascular 外科医 at Spire Liverpool Hospital and Countess of Chester NHS 創立／基礎, says: 'Sarah 苦しむd a 潜在的に lifethreatening 複雑化 from her DVT without knowing she had any problems in her 脚 or pelvic veins. It seems as though she was very fit, but she was on an oral contraceptive and smoked, albeit a small 量.

'These 危険 factors may account for her developing a DVT but she will be 実験（する）d to see if any genetic factors have put her at greater 危険. If so, then it may mean warfarin therapy for life.'

? www.spire healthcare.com