blood clots Archives - Wellness and Health Tips

Arteries play a vital role in the circulatory system of our body. They carry away blood from the heart whereas veins take blood into the heart from other parts of the body. Arteries are thick and more elastic than veins, as they carry blood at high pressure (pumped from the heart). Due to the unhealthy lifestyle, for some people, blood gets thick quickly. The high amount of proteins, calcium, red cells, white cells, platelets, etc. in the blood causes thickening. Such condition paves way for blood clots and damages to endothelium. What is endothelium? Arteries have endothelium (a lining in their walls made of cells) that promotes a smooth flow of blood from the heart to other parts of the body. Damages to this thin layer can cause the hardening of arteries. This condition is called atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis.

What Causes Atherosclerosis?

Too much cholesterol and fat content in the artery wall is the major cause of this condition.

This deposition of substances is medically called plaque buildup in arteries. If plaque in arteries continues to collect, it can cause severe blockage and disrupt the blood flow. Sometimes, platelets gathered in the affected area and form blood clots.

Such clots can be life-threatening. It leads to heart attack and stroke.

What Are The Atherosclerosis Symptoms?

Atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease is more common in adults than in children. Usually, there will be no symptoms until plaque breaks out or when there is an interruption in blood flow.

The symptoms of arteriosclerosis vary depending on the type of artery affected.

Coronary arteries

Coronary arteries are located near the heart and when there is damage or hardening here, the blood supply to the heart fails. This causes heart attack and angina. Symptoms include:

Chest pain

Anxiety

Faintness

Coughing

Vomiting

Carotid arteries

These are present near the brain. Damages lead to stroke. Symptoms include:

Weakness

Headache

Paralysis

Difficulty in breathing

Facial numbness

Immediate medical attention is required, when a person has these signs.

Renal arteries

If the blood supply to the kidney got affected or limited, then renal artery blockage arises. This leads to chronic kidney disease and symptoms include:

Swelling of the hands and feet

Loss of appetite

Difficulty in concentrating

Peripheral arteries

These arteries supply blood to the pelvis, legs, and arms. Hardening of the arteries in the legs leads to Peripheral artery disease.

This condition increases the chances of stroke and heart attack. Severe damage to the tissues leads to immobility and pain in the limbs.

It also requires earlier medical attention to avoid life-threatening situations.

Who Is At Risk?

People who have poor lifestyles have a higher risk of getting affected with atherosclerosis. Certain health conditions include:

A family history of cardiovascular disease

Continuous tobacco smoking or high levels of alcohol intake

Low or no physical activity

Large intake of foods with “bad” cholesterol

A poor diet containing high levels of sugar, Trans fat, salt, cholesterol, etc.

Diabetes

High blood pressure

Stress

Sleep apnea

Atherosclerosis Prevention

Lifestyle changes like following a heart-healthy diet, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and soluble fiber are the only way for atherosclerosis prevention. It is possible to live a long life, even with atherosclerosis but when strictly managed with proper heart-healthy foods.

Maintaining a healthy weight and doing regular exercises avoid thickening of blood or formation of cholesterol in the blood.

Medication

Medications are suggested based on the individual’s needs. Common recommendations are for preventing blood clots, reducing sugar levels, and to lower blood pressure.

Surgeries are carried out in severe cases where your doctor may either remove plaque buildup or bypass surgery to carry blood flow effectively.

Final round-up

Atherosclerosis is a serious condition as it leads to life-threatening diseases like arteriosclerosis heart disease. Early diagnosis, proper treatment, a healthy diet, and healthy lifestyle choices are the few ways to reduce the risk of suffering from this disease. As this mostly affects elders, a regular checkup (as suggested by your doctor) can help avoid any diseases.

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth and spread of the body cells. Do you know? We all have cancer cells in our body but there is a natural defense system that keeps this under control. A nutritious diet is the only thing that can help us keep the body’s natural defense system healthy. Despite this, due to fast pacing lifestyle, many of us do not have time to maintain our health. In return, we develop cancer. There are various types of cancers like blood cancer or leukemia cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, and more. One of the most common cancers that affect around 60K people per year and around 20K deaths the same year is Leukemia. Is Leukemia cancer treatment possible? Let’s find out.

Leukemia is the type of cancer that mainly affects the bone marrow. Do you know? Bone marrow is the part of our body that produces blood cells. Just imagine this scenario, our body can produce a certain number of blood cells, it takes time for them to grow and spread, and finally, after its life span (it is 120 days in the case of RBC and 13-20 days in the case of WBC) gets destroyed in the spleen. But if you are cancerous, there will be a rapid growth of the cells. Uncountable and unimaginable increase of blood cells overcrowds the blood and affects the entire system from proper functioning. This is Leukemia Cancer.

What are the Risk Factors?

Various risk factors have a close connection in developing leukemia.

Before heading into that section, we need to know that this cancer affects people over the age of 55, but nowadays it is also found in teens and kids under 15. I wanted to research “cancer in teens” in particular to know more about what the causes are and how to prevent and protect those innocents.

Now, coming back to the topic of risk factors, here

Viruses – Viruses are dramatically changing our lifestyle for many decades (it is the coronavirus now). Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV-1) has a link with leukemia.

Identical twins – If your siblings develop leukemia then there is a low chance of risking this disease.

Radiation therapy – This is the most common treatment method to reduce or destroy cancer cells. As there is a high chance of destroying the normal cells too, our body becomes more vulnerable to other side effects and diseases.

Chemotherapy – Like we all know that this is another common treatment method to destroy cancer cells. People who have undergone this are prone to other side effects like hair loss, nausea, and weight loss.

Hair Dyes – Yes, benzene content in the cleaning products and hair dyes can cause leukemia over time.

Electromagnetic fields – People who work under electromagnetic fields for a long time are prone to develop this cancer.

Similarly, long-term exposure to diesel, pesticides, and gasoline can also likely be a risk factor for leukemia.

What are the types of leukemia cancer?

The type of cancer is usually determined by the part of the blood cell it affects and the stage of WBC when affected.

The 4 types include:

Acute
Chronic
Lymphocytic
Myelogenous

Acute leukemia – this type gives no time, here the blood cells multiply quickly and leaves the bone marrow before it even grows well. This overcrowds the blood and causing many severe health risks.

Chronic leukemia – unlike the acute type, the chronic affects the fully matured blood cells.

Lymphocytic leukemia – This type affects the white blood cells and or otherwise called lymphocytes. We all know that this plays a vital role in our immune system. This is dangerous too, as it targets the whole immune system.

Myelogenous leukemia – This type targets the part of bone marrow itself rather than the blood cells that are produced.

Symptoms of leukemia

Leukemia has symptoms related to other illnesses too therefore a thorough diagnosis is required to confirm the disease.

Anemia – there will be a decrease in the number of red blood cells which means not having enough hemoglobin. Hemoglobin carries iron throughout the body and when it lacks causes shortness of breath and pale skin.

Frequent illnesses – as the types like lymphocytic mainly affect the WBC (our body’s military system), the person suffers from various other illnesses frequently. Even WBCs start affecting our body’s cells.

Improper blood clotting – Petechiae is a condition in which a person may develop red or purple spots all over the body. This happens when white blood cells overcrowd the platelets. The person bleeds easily and may not be able to heal quickly.

Other common symptoms are

Weight loss
Bone pain
Weakness
Fever
Chills
Nausea
Tiredness

What are the leukemia cancer treatment methods?

As we discussed earlier, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the two different treatment methods used in leukemia cancer treatment but still, this depends on what type a person has.

Surgery – This method is opted to remove the spleen but this again depends on the type and severity.

Stem Cell Transplantation – destroying the infected bone marrow either using chemotherapy or radiation therapy, replacing it with new stem cells that generate the noncancerous cells. This method is likely to produce good results in young than in older people.

Targeted therapy – in this method, tyrosine kinase inhibitors like imatinib are used to target the cancerous cells and destroy them alone. So far, this gave 90% successful results.

Summary

With the progress in the medical industry, remission is possible in cancer patients. Remission means a condition with no signs of cancer cells but still, periodic bone marrow checkups and blood tests may be required.

Like I said in my initial paragraph, a nutritious diet helps us fight all illnesses. Hope I will write a detailed article on it very soon.