World Thrombosis Day an opportunity to educate people on life-threatening condition
Most people don't give much thought to blood clots, but they can be life changing - and one local doctor wants to improve the health of Canadians through awareness.
Burlington resident and clinical hematologist at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, Dr. Siraj Mithoowani wants people to know about the importance of thrombosis today on World Thrombosis Day.
To improve the health of all Canadians by eliminating morbidity and mortality related to thrombotic disease.
Dr. Mithoowani is a member of the non-profit organization Thrombosis Canada and co-chairman of this year’s Thrombosis Canada Conference in Ottawa. There, they will celebrate the day along with thrombosis physicians, patients, volunteers, and healthcare professionals.
The doctor, who did all his medical training at McMaster University, explained that thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot, known as a thrombus, within a blood vessel causing a partial or total obstruction. It prevents blood from flowing normally through the circulatory system. When it flows through the body, the clot can harm important organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, or leg arteries. When it blocks blood flow, serious health issues can arise, such as stroke, heart attack, or pulmonary embolism.
To help eliminate morbidity and mortality related to thrombotic disease, Dr. Mithoowani, who’s been a hematologist since 2018, wants to educate, not just patients, but all healthcare professionals, and the public.
An easy way to remember the most common symptoms is by referring to the acronym CLOTS: chest, light-headedness, out of breath, tenderness in the leg and swelling in the leg:
Chest Pain
A blood clot in the lung causes it to swell, resulting in sharp chest pain when breathing.
Light-headedness
A blood clot in the lung causes lightheadedness or dizziness, especially if large or multiple clots block blood flow to the lung
Out of Breath
A blood clot in the lung reduces the flow of oxygen throughout the body, which causes difficulty breathing
Leg Tenderness
A blood clot in the leg causes tenderness or cramping in the calf or behind the knee, as well as redness and warmth.
Leg Swelling
A blood clot in the leg blocks blood flow to the veins that drain blood from the leg back to the heart. This causes the leg to swell.
Blood clots can form in the leg (deep vein thrombosis) or the lung (pulmonary embolism).
Depending on the type of blood clot you may have, different tests may be performed. Blood clots can affect people of any age, gender, race, or ethnicity.
According to Dr. Mithoowani, risk factors for blood clots include: a hospital stay, surgery, major trauma (car accident, fall or head injury), infection, inflammatory or autoimmune disease or cancer.
He said as much as it’s important for the public to be aware of the signs and symptoms, those who are on blood thinners also need more education on their blood thinner drugs.
“Many are on anticoagulants and they may not know what to do if they miss a dose,” for instance, he said. “Blood thinners themselves can increase the risk of bleeding. If you’re on one, you know some of the risks, between, two and four per cent would experience a major bleed event every year. They’re safe drugs, but they carry some potential harm or risk. Patients should be aware of signs and symptoms of bleeding.”
Those include: increasingly fatigued, also overt bleeding, GI tract, stool dark or black in colour, or bleeding elsewhere that isn’t going away. That requires a prompt visit to a health care professional, he said.
“There are so many advances in this discipline in the treatment of people with blood clots and blood thinners. The obvious thing is to educate people.”
On World Thrombosis Day, people might see monuments and landmarks lit up to raise awareness of thrombosis embolism, he added.
To find out more about thrombosis, go to thrombosiscanada.ca/ where you can find information for patients, doctors and the public.
