Silent Threat of Blood Clots

A blood clot that forms in your leg can travel to your lungs and kill you. It’s called a thrombus,

and it can form when blood flow is slow, like on a long flight, or if a vessel wall

is injured. If a piece of that clot breaks off, it becomes an embolus, a dangerous traveler

in your bloodstream. This tiny mass journeys through your veins until it gets stuck. If it lodges in

your pulmonary artery, it can cause a massive saddle embolus. If it reaches your brain or heart,

it causes a stroke or heart attack by cutting off oxygen. This is infarction: tissue death.

A silent killer formed in one part of your body can cause catastrophic damage in another.