What Causes Blood Clots in Heart Arteries?
Blood clots in arteries are made up of plaque, and the building blocks for the plaque clots is cholesterol. When we get too much of this waxy substance that we ingest from foods in our body it has a nasty habit of building up along the walls of arteries. Depending on many different factors, some people will have areas of their arterial network where plaque builds up more pronouncedly than elsewhere. When this happens, you’ve got the making of a blood clot in the artery.
It won’t always build up to that extent. But if it does and it takes over the entire width of the artery then blood flow is going to be impeded and there are all sorts of potential health risks that come with that. Angina is bad enough, but when the heart muscle aches because it is not getting enough blood that’s not even close to the worst possible health outcomes. At least with angina the constant chest pain and tightness will be a sign that something is wrong with your blood flow and supply.
If a blood clot builds up to a large size and breaks free from the artery wall it will begin to make its way throughout the body. The most dangerous aspect of a blood clot in artery is that if it ends up making its way into the lungs you may end up having a pulmonary embolism. Have one end up in your brain and that may mean a stroke. Going into the heart may cause a heart attack. Knowing that cholesterol is the answer to what causes blood clots in arteries is good information to have.
As is knowing how to prevent serious blood clots, and one of the things you can – and should – do if you doctor determines you have high cholesterol and the risk of blood clot in artery is to start on a medication like Brilinta. Anti-platelet medications like it works exceptionally well to reduce the risk of blood clots.
Thrombo-Stopper
Deep vein thrombosis is the most common type of blood clot complication though, and it is not as potentially deadly as the ones we talked about above. There’s no advantage to having any type of blood clot condition, but one advantage with DVT is that there are very indicative signs that you have a clot causing your DVT symptoms. If the skin of your legs (and lower legs in particular) is always very warm to the touch that can be one sign. Or if there’s swelling, redness, or discoloration of the skin there.
DVT can also occur in your arms, but the symptoms we are talking about here are often stronger in the legs. Being in poor overall cardiovascular health increases the risk of all types of blood clot complication and eating a SAD diet (Standard north American diet) is a major contributor for nearly all people who have high cholesterol and the risk of blood clots because of it.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The above information is intended to increase awareness of health information and does not suggest treatment or diagnosis. This information is not a substitute for individual medical attention and should not be construed to indicate that use of the drug is safe, appropriate, or effective for you. See your health care professional for medical advice and treatment.
