Moon of awareness of blood clots: risks, signs and prevention

Grand Rapids, Michigan – March is the National Moon to Awareness of Blood Clothes, and last year, Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital was named a Center of Excellence by The national alliance of blood clots.

Blood clots are a very real risk that can change your life in a moment and, after you have one, you are more likely to get another in the next ten years.

I spoke with the vice president of the National Blood Clot, Erin Vandyke and the emergency medicine, Dr. Trevor Cummings, about the signs and symptoms to stop the blood clots as early as possible.

“I think, it is imperative for us to continue to offer resources to our communities,” Vandyke said. These resources from the National Blood Clothing Alliance intend to stop blood clots following signs and symptoms.

“What we are worried about is that the clots actually bigger and traveling and traveling into the lungs,” Vandyke said. “And when traveling to the lungs, it can actually cause symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, especially chest pain with activity.”

Vandyke explains that there are about 900,000 Americans affected by blood clots annually, and 100,000 of them lose their lives every year. In fact, every six minutes, someone dies because of a blood clot. Clothes have impact on African -Americans more than Caucasians by 60%, and with age, men become more sensitive.

“The most common clots, or blood clots, which we see are clots in your foot called deep vein thrombosis (DVT),” said Dr. Cummings. “Those clots can sprout or untie and go to our lungs and cause what is called a pulmonary embolos and this causes most of the fatalities we see with this disease.”

Fortunately, there is more than a medicine to stop the paste. There are cars. “The most common we do for pulmonary embolism and DVT now are what is called mechanical thrombectomy,” said Dr. Cummings. “And it is a procedure in which a catheter advances in the clot and, in fact, sug clot, using mechanical aspiration, then eliminates the clot further from these metal coils, which climbs and tries to practically clean the blood vessel.” This procedure, according to Dr. Cummings, is the most common for patients at higher risk.

“We can also offer lithic therapy, where we offer medicines to try to break the clot,” said Dr. Cummings. “We even have the possibility, if it is really necessary, to do an open embolectomy, where patients achieve an open heart surgery or use what is called ECMO (oxygenation of the extracorport membrane), which is called a mechanical device to oxygenate your blood.”

Dr. Cummings emphasizes that each patient is different, so for some, the drug will do the trick. For others, such as the state teacher Ferris, Sandy Alpach, the operation was a necessity.

“This year, in January, I was going through the campus from my car to my office and I had to stop and stay to breathe,” Alspach said. Alspach had two blood clot. The first was two years ago, and the second was two months ago.

Now, just two weeks after the operation, thanks to Corewell Health, “I am able to travel the distances I need to go without breathing,” said Alspach.

Alspach is a reminder because blood clots are underestimated and it is important to remain educated.

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