This entry was posted 11 years, 0 months ago.
May 18, 2012
Most of us when hearing the words ‘blood clots’ imagine cardiovascular problems, increased risks of a stroke, a heart attack, or other terrible health conditions. However, blood clots (or thrombuses) are not always linked to diseases or negative effects on the functions of our cardiovascular system. In particular, for those who suffer from injuries, blood clots can help prevent bleeding, and this property is especially important for those who are prone to bleeding. Trombuses also assist in repairing our blood arteries, especially in cases of an injury or trauma. Blood clots are formed from white and red blood cells, some protein compounds, as well as a composition of fluids and chemicals known as blood plasma.
Despite these useful properties, thrombuses can move to various body parts and cause serious damage to our health. For example, if a blood clot if formed in one of our body’s main arteries, moves along it and reaches the heart, this can be a cause of a heart attack. In a similar way, if a blood clot is formed in one of the main arteries leading to brain, the clot can start moving toward brain and cause another common health condition known as a stroke. The same can happen in lungs and cause pulmonary embolism. 
Clots can appear both in veins and arteries, and they can completely restrict the flow of blood to our body organs. As we can see, trombuses formation (known as thrombosis) can cause serious problems, that is why it is important for all of us to learn how to prevent blood clots and lower the risks of the mentioned serious health conditions.
Unfortunately, there is no 100 per cent effective treatment for blood clots, and all we can do is trying to prevent tromboses formation in our blood stream. Monitoring our blood cholesterol levels and keeping LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol levels low is considered one of the most effective strategies to prevent blood clots. Recently, a group of experts from the Harvard Medical School have published very interesting findings of their new research. The scientists managed to specify a substance which could help us block clots formation and possibly play a key role in creating future effective treatment for blood clots. The findings were published in one of the recent issues of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and can be assessed here.
As the tests have shown, a chemical rutin can assist in blood colts prevention as it can block production of an enzyme involved in thrombuses formation. Plenty of rutin can be found in great amounts in black or green tea. In order to find out what foods we can get rutin from, Harvard scientists analyzed nutritional content of common fruits and veggies. It turned out that onions are the rutin-richest veggies, and apples should be considered the rutin-richest fruits. This, consuming these natural superfoods can assist us in effective prevention of blood clots formation and lowering the risks of suffering from trombosis and its complications. Scientists are planning to start further experiments which would mark the beginning of their work on creating possible treatment for blood clots.
Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.
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