Feb 1, 2008 11:30 am US/Eastern
Blood Clots Number One Preventable Killer
NEW YORK (CBS News) ―
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"It's staggering to think about the number of patients who have preventable events related to clots in their legs, which eventually become fatal," says Dr. Nick Morrissey.
CBS
It's the most common preventable death in the hospital.
"It's staggering to think about the number of patients who have preventable events related to clots in their legs, which eventually become fatal," said Dr. Nick Morrissey, a vascular surgeon at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Blood clots that travel to the lungs kill 25,000 Americans every year.
And a new study out in the Lancet says only about half of the hospitalized patients at risk are being treated to prevent them, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports.
LaPook asked former hospital patient Lorelai Fredheim: "Did anybody say to you, 'there's a risk you would get a blood clot?'"
"Not at all," Fredheim said. "Not at all."
She developed a potentially deadly blood clot following minor knee surgery.
"It definitely would have killed me," she said.
Prevention is usually simple. Using compression stockings to help circulation, blood thinners, or just walking around after a procedure.
"I think we're not doing a good enough job and we certainly can do better," Morrissey said. "Just like we address infection control and infection prevention, we should be addressing in a formalized way, prevention of development of clots."
What can you do to keep yourself or your loved ones out of this danger?
If you're in the hospital, LaPook said, get out of bed if you can, and ask your doctor if blood thinners are a good idea.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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