Blood Clotting Among Covid-19 patients: How To Avoid This Complication In The Third Wave

Covid-19 cases are again on the rise and the medical community is expecting a third wave anytime. Here's how you can avoid Covid infection and its complications including blood clotting in the next wave.

The second wave of Covid-19 infection has turned into a nightmare with significant devastation. Many young lives, who otherwise with no comorbidities are either lost or permanently disabled leaving families shattered. The most common reason behind this agony is formation of a blood clot in the course of Covid infection. This is also the reason behind the rise of heart attack, strokes or limb loss due to blood clots during the pandemic. Most often, blood clots are seen in patients who have been hospitalized with extreme Covid-19 infection.

"Blood clots are a serious condition and can cause untold damage. The virus attacks blood vessels in the body, most commonly the lungs which cause thrombosis or micro blood clots across the lungs causing sudden death. Blood clots can occur in both the veins as well as the arteries," said Dr. Devender Singh, Consultant Vascular & Endovascular Surgeon,Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad.

He continued, "A clot in the vein also known as deep vein thrombosis can be fatal for the patient without a moment's notice if the clot migrates to the lungs, a condition that is known as pulmonary thromboembolism. A clot in the artery causes disruption to the flow of blood to the organ causing death of the organ if not treated immediately. Stroke is disruption of the blood supply to the brain while heart attack is the disruption of blood supply to the heart. Clot in the limbs can lead to amputation (limb loss)."

How Covid-19 infection triggers blood clots?

Dr. Singh explained: The mechanism of blood clotting is like a two-edged sword, wherein the case of severe external injury, clotting is very crucial for preventing the blood loss, whereas, in the case of internal blood vessels injury, it, unfortunately, leads to the formation of blood clots, causing vascular blockades and thrombosis, expanding to every organ leading to severe and fatal outcomes. To protect the direct and/or indirect damage caused by SARS-CoV-2 to endothelial cells lining the blood vessels, host innate defensive mechanism of blood clotting activates, recruiting the activated platelets at the injury site to form a clot which although reduce the damage but negatively may lead to obstruction of blood vessels and vasoconstriction causing more damage.

What can be done to avoid blood clots in the next wave?

"Sadly, the Covid cases are again on the rise and the medical community is expecting a 3rd wave anytime. It is very important for all of us to be watchful and avoid blood clotting," Dr. Singh stated.

He wants people to follow these preventive steps diligently to avoid the Covid infection and its complications including blood clotting:

• Eat healthy food, drink plenty of water, and exercise daily for a minimum half an hour.
• Stay away from tobacco products, smoking and alcohol.
• Strict control of blood sugars for diabetics, blood pressure for hypertensive is important to avoid severe Covid-19 and blood clotting.
• Patients on blood thinners should continue medications.
• Patients who earlier suffered with clotting and those who have strong family history of blood clotting should be more careful and consult their doctors for required medications.
• Last but not the least, vaccines are safe and the best means of controlling this viral infection and its complications in the form of blood clotting.

Remember, prevention is better than cure, we should all adhere to the new norm of life i.e sanitisation, masking, social distancing without any excuses, he concluded.