Why Do Blood Clots Form?

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Why do blood clots form?

The clotting of blood or coagulation is a significant event which is responsible for stopping the excessive bleeding when the blood vessel is damaged. The platelets (blood cell type) and a protein in the plasma (the liquid part of blood) together function in order to prevent bleeding by the formation of a clot in the injury. If the injury has been treated and healed, the blood clots will be dissolved naturally. Sometimes, it can happen that blood clots are formed inside the blood vessels without any injury and they do not get dissolved in the natural way. This type of blood clot formation has to be diagnosed and given treatment correctly.

Blood clots might occur in veins or arteries which are the types of blood vessels present in the circulatory system. The blood clots are formed in the blood vessels to avoid the person to bleed to death during the time of injury. When there is any wound in the body, the blood flows from it through the vessels that are ruptured. To stop this flow, the walls of the blood vessels possess a cell lining which are actually involved in blood clot formation. These inner layer cells are significant in blood clot formation. Fibrin is the protein that helps in the formation of network which helps in clot formation.

Clotting occurs in arteries as well as veins. Clotting that occurs in arteries might be associated with the atherosclerosis which means deposition of plaque that blocks the entire blood vessel. In spite of the formation of plaques in the arteries, the strong walls of the arteries possessing muscles will make the blood flow to continue with high pressure. This high pressure will break the plaque into pieces. These pieces are responded by the body to form clots in the arteries. These clots will in turn result in heart attack and heart stroke. The clots can block the passage of blood to the various organs in the body. If the blood clot inhibits the blood flow, the concerned organ will be damaged due to the decreased blood flow.

Author: Hari M

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