Facts About Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

For Complete Article please visit : http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dvt/faq_dvt.htm

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is an under diagnosed, preventable medical condition that occurs when a blood clot forms in a large vein. These clots usually develop in the lower leg, thigh, or pelvis, but can also occur in the arm.

It is important to know about DVT because it can happen to anybody and can cause serious illness; disability; and, in some cases death. The good news is that DVT is preventable and treatable if diagnosed correctly and early

Who is at risk for DVT?

Almost anyone can have DVT. However, certain factors can increase the risk of developing this condition. The risk increases even more for someone who has more than one risk factor at the same time.


Following is a list of factors that increase the risk of developing DVT:

• Injury to the vein, often caused by:
  Fractures,
  Severe muscle injury, or
  Major surgery (particularly involving the abdomen, pelvis, hip, or legs).
  
  Slow blood flow, often caused by:
  Confinement to bed
  (e.g., due to a medical condition or after surgery);
  Limited movement (e.g., a cast on a leg to help heal an injured bone;
  Sitting for a long time, especially with crossed legs; or
  Paralysis.
  
  Increased estrogen, often caused by:
  Birth control pills;
  Hormone replacement therapy, sometimes used after menopause; or
  Pregnancy, for up to 6 weeks after giving birth.
  
  Certain chronic medical illnesses, such as:
  Heart disease,
  Lung disease,
  Cancer and its treatment, and
  Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis).
  
  Other risk factors include:
  Previous DVT,
  Family history of DVT,
  Age (risk increases as age increases),
  Obesity,
  Smoking,
  high blood pressure,
  A catheter located in a central vein, and

Inherited clotting disorders. An inherited clotting disorder might be suspected when a person has repeated DVTs that cannot be linked to any specific cause (such as recent surgery) or develops DVT in a vein at an unusual location, such as a vein in the liver, kidney, or brain.

Can DVT be prevented?

A Yes, there are some steps that people can take to help prevent DVT.


Move around as soon as possible after having been confined to bed, such as after surgery, illness, or injury.
Talk to your doctor about wearing graduated compression stockings (sometimes called "support hose" or "medical compression stockings").
When sitting for long periods of time, such as when traveling for more than four hours: 
- Get up and walk around every 2 to 3 hours.
- Exercise your legs while you’re sitting by:

Raising and lowering your heels while keeping your toes on the floor

Raising and lowering your toes while keeping your heels on the floor

Tightening and releasing your leg muscles

- Wear loose-fitting clothes.

- Drink plenty of water, and avoid drinking anything with alcohol or caffeine in it.

Talk to your doctor about medication (anticoagulants) to prevent or treat DVT.
Exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, and don’t smoke.

What complications can result from DVT?

If part of a blood clot breaks off, it can travel through the bloodstream to the lung and cause a pulmonary embolism (PE), which can be fatal.


In addition, nearly one-third of people who have a DVT will have long-term complications (post-thrombotic syndrome), such as swelling, pain, discoloration, and scaling in the affected part of the body. In some cases, the symptoms can be so severe that a person can become disabled.


For some people, DVT becomes a chronic illness; about 30% of people who have had a DVT are at risk for another episode

What are the symptoms of DVT?

About half of people with DVT have no symptoms at all. For those who do have symptoms, the following are the most common and can occur in the affected part of the body:

Swelling,
Pain,
Tenderness,
Redness of the skin.

DVT Treatment

Medication is used to prevent and treat DVT. Anticoagulants (blood thinners) are the medicines most commonly used.


Compression stockings (also called graduated compression stockings) are sometimes recommended to prevent DVT and relieve pain and swelling. These might need to be worn for 2 years or more after having DVT.


In severe cases, the clot might need to be removed surgically.

Pulmonary Embolism (PE) treatment

Emergency treatment at a hospital is necessary to treat PE. In cases of severe, life-threatening PE, there are medicines that can dissolve the clot (thrombolytics) and medicines that prevent more clots from forming (anticoagulants).


Surgery is sometimes needed for patients at great risk having another PE.

My Question : although i hadn't all the symptoms of DVT but only Swelling on feet and ankles, could it be a reason of that ?? .... i dont think that but to make sure only ......

P.S : I am on  Aldactone ( spironolactone ) 25mg ( Twice a Day ) ...
For Complete article : http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dilated-cardiomyopathy/DS01029/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs

Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staff
 
The goals of treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy are to treat an underlying cause if it's known, improve blood flow, reduce symptoms and prevent further damage to the heart.

Medications
Doctors usually treat dilated cardiomyopathy with a combination of medications. Depending on your symptoms, you might need two or more of these drugs. Several types of drugs have proved useful in the treatment of heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy. These medications include:

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. These drugs help people with dilated cardiomyopathy live longer and feel better. ACE inhibitors are a type of vasodilator, a drug that widens or dilates blood vessels to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow and decrease the workload on the heart. Examples include enalapril (Vasotec), lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril) and captopril (Capoten). ACE inhibitors also blunt some of the effects of hormones that promote salt and water retention.

ACE inhibitors cause an irritating cough in some people. It may be best to put up with the cough, if you can, to gain the medication's benefits. Discuss this side effect with your doctor. Switching to another ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker may relieve the problem.

Angiotensin II (A-II) receptor blockers (ARBs). These drugs, which include losartan (Cozaar) and valsartan (Diovan), have many of the beneficial effects of ACE inhibitors, but they don't cause a persistent cough. They may be an alternative for people who can't tolerate ACE inhibitors.
Other vasodilators. For people who can't take ACE inhibitors or ARBs due to poor kidney function, the combination medications of hydralazine and nitrates can be used as vasodilators.
Beta blockers. This class of drug also improves survival and reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death and abnormal heart rhythms in people with dilated cardiomyopathy. Beta blockers may reduce signs and symptoms of heart failure and improve heart function.

A beta blocker slows your heart rate, reduces blood pressure and prevents some of the harmful effects of stress hormones, substances produced by your body that can make heart failure worse and can trigger abnormal heart rhythms. Examples of beta blockers include carvedilol (Coreg), metoprolol (Toprol XL) and bisoprolol (Zebeta).

Diuretics. Often called water pills, diuretics make you urinate more frequently and keep fluid from collecting in your body. The drugs also decrease fluid in your lungs, so you can breathe more easily. Commonly prescribed diuretics for heart failure include bumetanide (Bumex) and furosemide (Lasix).

Because some diuretics make your body lose potassium and magnesium, your doctor may also prescribe supplements of these minerals. If you're taking a diuretic, your doctor will likely monitor levels of potassium and magnesium in your blood through regular blood tests.

Aldosterone antagonists. These drugs include spironolactone (Aldactone) and eplerenone (Inspra). They are primarily potassium-sparing diuretics, but they have additional properties that help the heart work better, may reverse scarring of the heart and may help people with severe heart failure live longer. Unlike some other diuretics, spironolactone can raise the level of potassium in your blood to dangerous levels.
Digoxin (Lanoxin). This drug, also referred to as digitalis, increases the strength of your heart muscle contractions. It also tends to slow the heartbeat.
Digoxin reduces heart failure symptoms and improves your ability to live with dilated cardiomyopathy.
Anticoagulants. Your doctor may prescribe anticoagulants, which prevent blood clots. These include aspirin and warfarin (Coumadin).

i posted second article to let you know wat medicine i m taking and for wat reasons that doctors mostly sugest's .....
Hope that it will be as i m thinking of it ( nothing serious or to worry much about ) ....

Umair

I dont want to make you sad, but I have heard of article 1 recently. I am a little proud of myself now. I send the article to my friend who has the terrible, the most terrible disease ulcerative colitis. Honestly, I dont think we will ever understand how terrible that disease is.  :'(

Article II is new, but I also wanted to say that a swelling ankle is a sympton of a heart problem.  I dont want to upset you.

 

Dore,
i m not gona upset to the little probs like this , .. i red about ulcerative colitis today but forgot abt that bcoze i was looking for the word related to the Heart only , thats why i havn't paid attention to ulcerative colitis related info in thhose articles.... about my heart, Andy and other told me about iron overload at heart and to start IV to remove that iron, a little earlier, but i wanted to disscuss other aspects/reason of swelling, i dont have swelling anymore , but wanted to investigate the possible reasnons of that ... Thanx for the Reply and your opinion ...

Best Regards
Take Care
Umair