A few weeks ago we started a series on the science of coagulation with a post on Taking the Pxxs. This was about the first stage of clotting called primary Haemostasis. In this post I am going to introduce the next phase. If you have ever studied any physiology and had to learn about blood coagulation I suspect you found it a bit complicated. I know from teaching medical … [Read more...]
Risk Factors: thrombophilia – Factor V Leiden
The factor V Leiden mutation is found in about 4% of Caucasian people; that is 1 in 25 people, which means you probably know somebody with this condition. Although it increases your risk of having a blood clot, the vast majority of people with this condition never have a clot. If 1 in 25 people had a blood clot I would be really busy! This mutation was discovered in Leiden … [Read more...]
Australian Open and pulmonary embolism
This week some big names were winners at the Australian Tennis Open. Roger Federer won his 18th Grand Slam at the ripe old age of 35 yrs and Serena Williams once again took the Women's title. I guess that most of my readers would regard the age of 35 as young, but in a high speed sport like tennis, Federer is getting a bit old to be playing at the top level of the game. He is … [Read more...]
Risk Factors: Thrombophilia – Protein S Deficiency
Protein S Protein S is another protein in the blood that works like a natural anticoagulant. It was discovered in Seattle, hence the name Protein S. Like Protein C and many of the clotting proteins it requires vitamin K for normal activity. It is present in the blood in two forms either bound to another protein called C4b-binding protein or as a free protein. Protein S works … [Read more...]
Frivolous Friday – Movie Blood
At the moment we are on holiday in Los Angeles. We visited Universal studios and Warner Brother studios during our stay. We learnt some interesting things abut how blood is portrayed in the movies. Most action movies and thrillers these days have scenes where copious amounts of blood flows freely. I am a fan of Game of Thrones and they certainly don't hold back with the blood … [Read more...]
Risk Factors – Thrombophilia: Protein C deficiency
Protein C Protein C was discovered in the 1970s by Stenflo, a scientists working on plasma from cows. He was interested in the proteins that required vitamin K to function properly. He was doing an experiment separating vitamin K dependent proteins in bovine plasma using ion-exchange chromatography. During these experiments he found a protein not previously identified that … [Read more...]
Weekend Reflection – “remember to turn on the light.”
This is part of our series of quotes that may help when you’re facing adversity or finding your new normal. You may have discovered your DVT is linked to a diagnosis of cancer, you may have suffered a life-threatening PE or heart attack. Whatever the reason, many of our readers go through difficult times. We post these on the weekends, so if you’re not interested you can … [Read more...]
Risk Factor – Thrombophilia: Antithrombin deficiency
Family History Since the first report, hundreds of families have been identified with antithrombin deficiency, but it is still quite a rare condition and only affects about 1 in 5000 people. It is found in about 2 to 3% of people who have a blood clot before the age of 40yrs. Research A great deal is now know about antithrombin. The DNA sequence is known and the molecular … [Read more...]
Risk Factors – Thrombophilia: Part 1
Over the last few months we have been running a series of posts on the risk factors for thrombosis. A few weeks ago I looked at the link between family history and thrombosis and touched on inherited causes of blood clots. This is a big field and quite complex as more and more risk factors have been identified. In this post I will give you some background to the … [Read more...]
Three thrombo resolutions
New Year is the time for making resolutions. If you are like me, they last for a few weeks at most but the intention is good. For people who have had a blood clot these are three things that you might want to add to your resolutions for this year. Take your tablets regularly If you are taking an anticoagulant it is very important that you keep taking it regularly. This is … [Read more...]