Health

Just How Serious Can a Blood Clot Be?

(TheBlaze/AP) Blood clots like the one that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is being treated for following her recent concussion can occur for a host of reasons. But how serious a clot is depends on where it is and why it formed. A Clinton aide would not say where hers is located, making definitive assessments about her case difficult.

What they are: Blood pools and thickens into a clot after an injury or because of a heart problem, clogged arteries or other condition. Clots also can break off and travel to another part of the body.

Where they occur: In leg veins (called deep vein thrombosis) or in blood vessels in the neck, brain or lungs. Leg clots are a common risk after someone has been bedridden. You might also have heard of the risk for blood clots in the legs for those sitting on long flights. Clots are most dangerous when they travel to the lungs, a potentially life-threatening situation, or to the brain, where they can cause a stroke.

How Serious a Blood Clot Is Depends on Location

(Image: Wikimedia)

Risk factors: High blood pressure, diabetes, birth control pills, pregnancy, stroke, recent surgery, prolonged sitting, circulation problems and heart problems — especially an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation — raise the chances of developing a blood clot.

Treatment: Sometimes a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin) is prescribed to allow the clot to dissolve by itself over time and prevent new ones from forming.

Watch this AP report regarding Clinton’s condition:

This CNN report features Dr. Sanjay Gupta who speculates on Clinton’s blood clot:

This story was written by AP Chief Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione. Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

Related:

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Comments (62)

  • Metallicat
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:44am

    If a concussion can end the career of a NFL quarterback,then it should be the definitive end to a political career. we dont need anymore brain dead politicians in Washington, being led around by the nose by those with an anti American agenda,like we have now with Obama.

    Report this comment

    Metallicat  
    • Dkoonz
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 1:20pm

      I think blood clots can also effect the brain especialy the part that holds memories of Benghazi.

      Report this comment

      Dkoonz  
    • mwhaley
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 2:38pm

      This type of clot is also know as a benghazih thrombosis. It mostly occurs while circling in an air craft while being under enemy fire.

      Report this comment

      mwhaley  
    • Tom70
      Posted on January 2, 2013 at 10:06am

      Not serious enough if your a progressive politician or this president. I guess we could include tzar’s.

      Report this comment

      Tom70  
  • MissEllaneous
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:42am

    I don’t think anyone is debating the seriousness of a blood clot.

    I think a lot of us question the validity of her ailment. She seems to have the time and strength to do everything else but testify.

    Report this comment

    MissEllaneous  
  • jessieH
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:33am

    Anybody buying this crap? I don’t.

    Report this comment

    jessieH  
    • cloudsofwar
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:42am

      maybe she’s taking birth control pills. haha. she’s not going in front of congress to testifie. what is she hiding? her own failure. and she wants to be POTUS in 2016.

      Report this comment

      cloudsofwar  
  • patriotteapress
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:31am

    She maybe having elective surgery before O care kicks in.
    Oh wait, I forgot it doesn’t apply to the ruling class! My bad. What was I thinking.

    Report this comment

    patriotteapress  
  • WaterTheTree
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:22am

    Actually, I was thinking that “fainting” was an outmoded female stereotype, one that will come back to haunt her when she runs in 2016. I never once heard someone ask the bigoted question “is a black man able to be president”, but I can amagine a lot of people who were willing to vote for a woman just because of her genetic makeup might have doubts about a woman who “faints”.

    Report this comment

    WaterTheTree  
    • IndyGuy
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:31am

      “Just How Serious Can a Blood Clot Be?”…Apparently just serious enough to keep you from testifying in front of Congress…

      Report this comment

      IndyGuy  
    • IndyGuy
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:36am

      Perhaps we are seeing the true wickedness of Obamacare…Doctors that are beholding to Government that will say anything to keep their jobs…The Hippocratic Oath is long gone…

      Report this comment

      IndyGuy  
    • cloudsofwar
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:47am

      @ indyguy…. in this new America she could still be elected to POTUS in 2016. the old guard is gone for the most part and now we are living in the Socialist States of America. RIP USA. so sad to see what our country has become. obama and his henchmen have won.

      Report this comment

      cloudsofwar  
    • CPLGEORGE
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 11:46am

      I don’t think she is running, except from the possibility of a prison sentence and total collapse of the Obama administration.

      Report this comment

      CPLGEORGE  
  • Tri-ox
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:12am

    Real blood clots can be quite serious – fake blood clots resulting from fake concussions, not so much.

    Report this comment

    Tri-ox  
  • Uechi
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:10am

    I’ll give the lying bimbo the benefit of the doubt. Blood clots can cause heart attacks, and strokes among other things. As dangerous as they are this women ( I use the term loosely) is far more dangerous to the heaalth of this Nation then a clot.

    Report this comment

    Uechi  
  • ForMyKidsVA
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:01am

    I call BS

    Report this comment

    ForMyKidsVA  
  • Dabbobean
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:59am

    I still call BS…….she needed to come up with something. She very well may have a clot in her leg probably from lying on her a$$ for the last 3 few weeks drinking grey goose martinis……she is overweight ,she’s older, and drinks too much, she gonna have some health problems but this should never have prevented her from testifying on Benghazi……..this kind of condition would not keep a busboy or a gas station attendant out of work for three weeks…..Clinton is a liar and a scammer and has proved that again and again over her parasitic career in public service.

    Report this comment

    Dabbobean  
    • chucksue351
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:20am

      ex cellent post

      Report this comment

      chucksue351  
    • objectivetruth
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 1:58pm

      Actually it could keep anyone out of work for awhile.I don’t have a problem with whether she actually has a blood clot or not.It may be convienent or not.Not all problems with head spinal injuries show up instantly.Especially closed head injuries.What I have a problem with, is her either not testifying or failing to call a date to testify.Contrary to public opinion depositions can be taken in a hospital provided you are actually healthy and alert enough.Why hasn’t this option been explored unless of couse she is truly trying to dodge?

      Report this comment

      objectivetruth  
  • ldaopines
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:59am

    She’s too busy doing wine tasting in Australia.
    She has an unobserved faint/concussion with no hospitalization.
    Now an unspecific blood clot where everyone’s left guessing where it is.

    Question: Will Hillary ever testify or is 2016 just that important? It’s a shame that I can’t take politicians like Hillary at their word, but I can’t. I simply can’t. Lies are too frequent, from sniper fire to Chelsea jogging around the Twin Towers on 911. If Hillary is this frail, that should be a primary consideration going forward.

    Report this comment

    ldaopines  
  • Robert Hawk
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:52am

    its not uncommon to have blood clots after one has a head injury, however they usually occur within hours of the injury and most are fatal. That said Ms. Clinton experienced a blood clot almost two weeks after here head injury which seems somewhat fishy. None the less, if she has actually developed a blood clot in the blood vessels which feed the brain, it can effect her long term memory or even cause death.
    Knowing the Obama administration as we do, I would suspect this is simply a soap opera moment, which was chosen to allow one of the players to move out of the scene and keep her away from testifying to congress, She undoubtedly knows something about the Middle East activities which would possibly expose Mr Obama to an impeachable offense. Most likely it has something to do with the August 2012 intelligence finding Mr Obama signed, which ordered the elimination of Assad.

    Report this comment

    Robert Hawk  
  • DougHuffman
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:50am

    Like Litvenko, her Po-210 pill works slowly.

    μολων λαβέ molṑn labé ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE “From my cold, dead hands” works for me.

    Report this comment

    DougHuffman  
  • jd9215
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:47am

    Obama trying to silence all witnesses, just didn’t quite succeed with Hillary. Yet.

    Report this comment

    jd9215  
  • Jaimo
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:44am

    I read somewhere that Bill and Hill were on some island with a bunch of muckity mucks for the New Year. How is it that she’s in New York.

    Report this comment

    Jaimo  
  • essence428
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:35am

    Rumor is: She was in a plane crash 3 weeks ago in Iran. Here is yet another cover-up by them, but everything they tell us is not real anyway. And also, “Concussion” is the new buzz word with them. Hillary, football players, etc. It’s all a game they play with us. Nothing is real. Once you understand that nothing being reported is real, it does change the game. I would be more apt to believe the plane crash story than what is actually being reported after the cover-up fiasco that happened in Benghazi.

    Source: http://www.rumormillnews.com

    Sorcha Faal: Clinton Injured, US Navy Seal Killed In Secret US Mission To Iran

    A new Foreign Military Intelligence (GRU) report circulating in the Kremlin today is saying that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [photo 2nd left] was injured, and a top US Navy Seal Commander killed when their C-12 Huron military passenger and transport aircraft crash landed nearly 3 weeks ago in the Iranian city of Ahvaz near the Iraqi border.

    Iranian intelligence agents quoted in this GRU report confirm that the C-12 Huron aircraft is still in their possession in Ahvaz, but will only admit that the plane was “forced to land because of technical problems.”

    Report this comment

    essence428  
  • yougottabekidding
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:23am

    In clintons case we can only hope.
    Would be poetic justice for 4 that died at her absolute lack of leadership
    The red phone rang that night and no one answered it!

    Report this comment

    yougottabekidding  
  • Via Dolorosa
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:21am

    I had a good friend (34 years old) die from a blood clot that formed in her leg a few years back. When you undergo surgery now they will put those elastic wraps/stockings on your upper thighs to help keep the risk minimized.

    I’m not a Clinton (either of them) fan however we should pray for any person’s healing if they are at risk for something that could be so serious.

    Yall please have a sliver of compassion for people – regardless of who it is.

    Report this comment

    Via Dolorosa  
    • yougottabekidding
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:44am

      Here’s my sliver of compassion.
      Put her and a doctor of her choice and everyone up and down the chain of command in that “safe house” with no American hero’s or military style weapons and tell then you’ll be back.

      Report this comment

      yougottabekidding  
    • Free_Thought
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:51am

      It was a valiant and classy attempt at humanity there but as you can see it falls on deaf ears around here. Wishing death upon someone is a real nice way to go. I think allen west, bachmann, santorum, akin, mourdock and mcconnell are vile pieces of filth but wishing death upon them is more disgusting than anything they have done. You all have a nice warm seat available next to the devil. But it was nice to see at least one conservative with a brain and was raised properly.

      Report this comment

      Free_Thought  
    • yougottabekidding
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 10:46am

      Free_Thought

      Here’s to your BS about humanity. Tell that to the four dead Americans in Benghazi that pleaded for help, and were ignored. You spew your socialist crap and enjoy it cause you could very well be next! They did not care for members of their own team, what do you as an insignificant piece of cow dung think they will do for you
      And I hope you die the same painful death they had. Ask Ambassador Chris Stevens how it felt to have all that compassion as he was being gang raped!
      You disgust me and all real Americans!

      Report this comment

      yougottabekidding  
    • yougottabekidding
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 11:15am

      Free_Thought

      PS
      Change your icon to brick in the wall! It suits you belter then dark side of the moon, even though you will never see the light!

      Report this comment

      yougottabekidding  
    • yougottabekidding
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 11:46am

      Free_Thought

      I’ll give you one more thought,
      No one said anything about them dying.
      I said put them in the same “SAFE HOUSE”. Do you know the meaning of that? Your gov said it was safe.
      You, on the other hand, are saying it is a death wish! You are making the leap.
      Why is that?
      Because you know they were put in a life threatening position and left there to die! So in essence I want them to die. Your logic!

      Report this comment

      yougottabekidding  
  • Southernsoul
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:19am

    Wow. just imagine having all of those health problems just before you have to testify before Congress on your illeghal activities that might put you and the President in prison. Its almost unbelievable.

    Report this comment

    Southernsoul  
    • 1776freedomofspeech
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:49am

      Interesting…….and extremely coincidental………smoke and mirrors?

      Report this comment

      1776freedomofspeech  
    • CABERNETQHS
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:51am

      I don’t wish ill on Hillary, she did suffer mildly being married to Bill. That being said,a life threatening blood clot would most likely be the “cause” for your doctor appointment. Or even an ER trip. I can’t guess what she has but,you rarely just “find” it during a follow up exam unless it’s simply phlebitis which can be a blood clot in a vein as opposed to an artery. Phlebitis is not life threatening. It still smells fishy. I cry BS! Unless she dies or something, I’ve been wrong before.

      Report this comment

      CABERNETQHS  
  • bannedfromCNN
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:11am

    Blood clots are super-serious, especially when they occur just before you are to testify before Congress.

    Report this comment

    bannedfromCNN  
    • RepubliCorp
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:52am

      but it will be all better before 2016

      Report this comment

      RepubliCorp  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 2:03pm

      Being trapped in a consulate building guarded by Libyan militia members ain’t no cake walk either.

      Report this comment

      Gonzo  
  • chips1
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:11am

    They never mention that a blood clot in the brain forces your **** to get larger.

    Report this comment

    chips1  
    • Southernsoul
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:16am

      Really? Does that mean Moochelle has a blood clot, too?

      Report this comment

      Southernsoul  
    • DougHuffman
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:44am

      No, ‘pelvic engorgement’ (that used to be the euphemism) perhaps, but no periodic hemorrhaging.

      μολων λαβέ molṑn labé ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE “From my cold, dead hands” works for me.

      Report this comment

      DougHuffman  
  • chips1
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:08am

    Nothing a 5K run wouldn’t fix.

    Report this comment

    chips1  
  • BODYBAG
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:00am

    Hilary’s blood clot has a name —— Barry
    Hilary’s blood clot is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC

    Report this comment

    BODYBAG  
    • DadRocked
      Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:23am

      “A Clinton aide would not say where hers is located, making definitive assessments about her case difficult.”

      Hey clinton aide, Dr. BodyBag has found it!

      Report this comment

      DadRocked  
  • Zipit
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:00am

    JUST HOW SERIOUS CAN A BLOOD CLOT BE? I’ve been told that it can totally wipe out your entire memory!!!!! “Selectively”, of course! On the other hand, “I have no recollection of that happening”…..

    Report this comment

    Zipit  
  • DougHuffman
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 9:00am

    Hag Hillary should have been hospitalized years ago, she would have but for ALL the state mental hospitals being long closed. Put some ice on it.

    μολων λαβέ molṑn labé ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE “From my cold, dead hands” works for me.

    Report this comment

    DougHuffman  
  • lynnissmart
    Posted on December 31, 2012 at 8:58am

    What I’m thinking is really mean…..can’t say it!

    Report this comment

    lynnissmart  

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