The Flow of Blood and Muscle Movement
Blood clots can be caused by lack of movement in some cases. About 1% of passengers on airplanes get clots in their legs simply because they have spent so much time sitting. This is due to the fact that the flow of blood in the legs is directly related to the movement of the muscles in those areas. If the muscles are slack for a long period of time the movement of the blood in the extremities can slow down to the point of developing clots. Also some clots can form due to the narrowing of arteries caused by atherosclerosis. The veins have narrowed and hardened to the point where the blood flow is slowed and a clot occurs on the spot. Blood clots are also the result of an injury to a vein. If a vein is split open, clotting is the body's way of preventing the escape of too much blood.
Normal Blood Reaction
When bleeding occurs, platelets in the blood become sticky and clump together at the site of the injury. They begin to form a mass to stop the flow of blood. This prevents the body from bleeding out, which is what would happen in the case of a hemophiliac whose blood does not clot. A person with that condition must immediately inject blood clotting agent into his bloodstream in order to stop even the tiniest cut from bleeding too much. In healthy blood, clotting is a normal reaction to a cut in a blood vessel, but sometimes blood clots can occur when the vessels have not been cut in any way.
Thrombus and Embolus Clots
Different blood clots have different names. A thrombus is a clot within either the heart itself or on the inner wall of a blood vessel. This type of clot can slow or even stop blood from passing through that area. An embolus clot forms in one blood vessel but does not attach to the wall of that vessel and moves through the bloodstream eventually meeting up with a blood vessel that is small enough to prevent its passage, wherein it lodges, causing sudden strokes, heart attacks, shortness of breath or death, blindness, limb tissue decay through gangrene, all depending on where in the body the embolus happens to end up.
Symptoms of Clotting
Atherosclerosis is a major cause of blood clotting incidents within the veins as are diets that are low in essential fatty acids and antioxidants. The symptoms of blood clots depend on where they are located. For example, sudden extreme dizziness usually represents a cerebral artery, sudden blindness in one eye could be due to a clot within a retinal artery, Hard blue bulges in an extremity combined with numbness, weakness or unexplained pain can represent a blood clot. Sudden chest pain in the center of the chest, the jaw, left arm, and possibly the abdomen as well can represent a blood clot that is affecting the heart resulting in a heart attack. Clots in or near major organs may shut that organ down or slow its function causing poor health or even death.
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