When the Vascular System isn’t Working Right

In this post we will be looking at some of the common problems that can occur in the vascular system. To know why these problems are important to correct it helps to understand how this system functions. This post is the final part in a 4 part series looking at the vascular system. First we looked at the red blood cell’s incredible role in the body, then the makeup of your blood and finally the arteries and veins that carry the blood throughout your body. Now let’s address some of this system’s common problems.

Blood clots

A deep vein thrombosis or DVT is a thrombus (or clot) that forms in one of your “deep veins.” These are the large veins mostly in your legs or your arms that bring blood back to your heart. When a blood clot forms where it is not supposed to it can completely or partially block blood flow in that vein. Since a vein is a vessel that carries blood back TO your heart, when it is blocked you will see the effects below where the clot is located. For instance, if the blood clot is in your leg, you may notice your leg swelling and feeling warm and red (because the blood is not able to get past it and is pooling in your leg.) I also want to note that many people with DVT do not notice any symptoms. A DVT can become very dangerous if the clot breaks loose. This is because that blood in your vein is headed straight to your lungs. When that clot enters the smaller vessels in your lungs, it will get stuck. This blocks the blood flow causing what is called a pulmonary embolism.

Blood clots can form in your deep veins for a variety of reasons. They are made more likely due to certain diseases or when you are on certain medications. There is also an increased chance of a clot forming when blood is allowed to sit without moving in one area for an extended period of time. This is why it is so important to get up and walk around if you are on a long flight or on a long car drive. As your muscles contract they do alot of the work of pushing the blood back to the heart. It is important to get up and walking around so that your calf and larger leg muscles are able to get that blood moving!

Blood clots can also occur in an artery. These are the vessels that are carrying the blood away from the heart. They are filled with fresh oxygen for your body’s cells. This means that when one of these vessels gets blocked, the organ that it was serving will no longer be receiving either as much or any of that oxygen. When it blocks an artery serving your brain, it can cause a stroke. When it blocks an artery serving your heart muscle, it can cause a heart attack. A person is at an increased risk of having a blood clot block an artery when they have a build up of a deposit called plaque. The plaque is attached to the wall of an artery and causes the vessel to become narrow. For example, when a person has peripheral artery disease, the fatty plaque buildup causes the larger arteries serving your arms and legs to narrow. This causes decreased blood flow over time. When a person has carotid artery disease it means the narrowing happens in the arteries serving your brain. When the plaque narrows the artery enough or a blood clot forms and is suddenly caught in the narrowed artery, it causes the person to have a stroke. Plaque buildup can also be dangerous because part of the plaque can also break loose and cause a blockage within your blood vessel.

In any type of blockage of your arteries or veins it is important to get help as soon as a problem is recognized. For heart attack symptoms, I will refer you to the American Heart Association for more information as symptoms can vary greatly from person to person. With a stroke, the signs and symptoms can be a bit clearer and below is a helpful pneumonic from the American Heart Association.

Anemia

You have probably heard someone referred to as “anemic” but what does that actually mean? There are several types and causes of anemia but it occurs when a person’s body is either not making enough red blood cells or it is not making enough hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the part of the red blood cell that carries the oxygen molecule, each hemoglobin can carry 4 oxygen molecules. Each red blood cell has about 270 million hemoglobin proteins on it. That means that when a person’s body is not making enough red blood cells or hemoglobin the blood’s ability to get oxygen out to your body’s organs can be greatly diminished.

blood donation

There are many different reasons why a person may need a blood transfusion. It could be due to a disease or a sudden injury causing them to experience a large amount of bleeding. In these instances a person needs to receive a transfusion of donated blood to keep their body functioning.

There are several different ways to donate blood. The most common type of donation is whole blood donation during which a pint of your blood is removed and then it sorted out into its different components so that it can be administered as needed to patients. There are also ways to donate the platelets, plasma, or red blood cells on their own.