What Is a Blood Clot?

Health, Home & Family
on March 17, 2012

The body’s ability to create blood clots is crucial to overall health. However, when blood clots are formed inside blood vessels or fail to form at all, a dangerous condition can result. Discover what a blood clot is and how they can be helpful or harmful.

What is a blood clot? The body has the natural ability to coagulate or clot blood. The body naturally delivers platelets and plasma proteins to the site of an injury, according to the American Society of Hematology.

The good side of blood clots. The clotting process is crucial to health. Without blood clotting, any injury could lead to too much blood loss, shock and death. The blood clot forms at the wound site and prevents the blood from flowing continually. The body dissolves the blood clot over time as the wound heals.

The bad side of blood clots. Like many processes in the body, a good physical reaction can go awry. When blood clots form where they are not supposed to, or when blood does not clot properly, several blood disorders can occur. These include:

  • Deep vein thrombosis — DVT is a clot that forms in a major vein of the leg or sometimes pelvis, arm or other vein. If this clot disengages from its original location, it could end up in the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism, heart attack or stroke.
  • Bleeding disorders — There are several types of bleeding disorders. These disorders are a result of the body’s inability to clot properly. Without the sticky platelets and plasma proteins to stem the flow of blood and promote healing, excessive blood loss is the result. Hemophilia is a well-known bleeding disorder that is typically inherited. This disorder usually affects males and is not that common. Willebrand disease is a much more common inherited bleeding disorder that affects both men and women. It is usually less serious than hemophilia, and with early diagnosis, proper care and management, people with Willebrand disease can live a perfectly normal life.