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• • • • Prevention
About thrombosis
Arterial thrombosis
Symptoms of arterial thrombosis
The build up of atheroma causes atherosclerosis,
or narrowing of the arteries. This can lead to heart
disease and heart attacks, strokes or peripheral
vascular disease.
Heart disease
Atheromatous
heart disease is caused by 'furring up'
of the arteries surrounding the heart. It can lead to a condition known as
angina.
The symptoms of angina include chest pain during exercise or when feeling emotional stress. The pain usually goes away when someone stops exercising or calms down.
The heart needs more blood than usual when it beats faster, due to exercise or emotion. If the arteries are narrowed by atheroma, this prevents enough blood reaching the heart to supply oxygen and nutrition to the muscles. Pain results from the heart muscle being deprived of oxygen.
Heart attack
A heart attack, or myocardial infarction, occurs when a clot blocks
one of the arteries supplying blood to the heart. This is nearly always due
to narrowing of the artery
by atherosclerosis.
During a heart attack, the area of heart muscle supplied by the artery loses its blood supply and dies. If this is a large and vital area of muscle, the heart may not be able to pump blood effectively and heart failure will occur.
In some people the dying muscle can cause an irregular heartbeat, or arrythmia, and the heart may stop beating altogether.
Stroke
A stroke occurs either when an artery supplying part
of the brain is blocked (ischaemic stroke) or when it ruptures and
bleeds into in the brain (haemorrhagic stroke).
About 80 per cent of strokes are ischaemic. In an ischaemic stroke the area of brain supplied by the artery loses its blood supply and cannot survive. The blood clot causing this problem may come from an area of atheroma in one of the neck arteries, or from the heart.
Peripheral vascular disease
Peripheral vascular disease
is a condition that usually affects the lower part of the leg. Although it
is usually present in both legs, it is common for symptoms to affect one side
only.
Peripheral vascular disease appears to affect men more than women and usually occurs after the age of 50. It is particularly common in people with diabetes and is rare in non-smokers.
Symptoms include pain on exercise, known as intermittent claudication, and cold extremities. Intermittent claudication usually occurs in the calf when walking and is relieved by rest. If the condition becomes worse, there may also be pain during rest.
The pain is due to a lack of blood in the leg muscles during exercise, caused by narrowed arteries in the lower leg and foot.
Occasionally a blood clot may lodge in one of the narrowed arteries. The leg then becomes cold, numb and pale, and loses its pulses. When this happens it is vital to restore the blood supply quickly, to prevent loss of the leg. This requires surgery to remove the clot.
A coronary (heart)
artery that has been partially blocked by atherosclerosis
Heart failure due to a blood clot in the coronary
(heart) artery
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© Lifeblood: The Thrombosis Charity 2003-2006. A
company limited by guarantee. Registered Company No: 4354472.
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