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Fatal Blood Clots Common In Obese
For almost 80 years, doctors have suspected that obesity is a
risk factor for a fatal pulmonary embolism, a sudden blockage
in a lung artery that is usually due to a blood clot traveling
to the lung from the leg.
Now, an extensive review of hospital patient records shows that
obesity is indeed a risk factor for venous thromboembolic disease
in men as well as women, particularly those under age 40, a new
study reports.
Researchers analyzed more than 20 years of patient records compiled
by the National Hospital Discharge Survey to investigate the potential
connection between obesity and thromboembolism. The study is timely
given the high percentage of overweight Americans, the scientists
said.
They found that the relative risk of pulmonary embolism (PE),
comparing obese patients with non-obese patients, was 2.21. Obesity
had the greatest impact on patients under 40 years, in whom the
relative risk for PE was 5.19, the study found.
The study appears in the September issue of the American Journal
of Medicine.
Dr. Paul D. Stein, a cardiologist at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland
Hospital, in Pontiac, Mich., writes in a prepared statement: "Now
that we know with certainty that obesity is a risk factor for
PE, particularly in men and women under age 40, the presence of
obesity may alert physicians to a possibility of the diagnosis.
The diagnosis of PE is frequently missed, even though PE is the
third most common acute cardiovascular disease after myocardial
infarction and stroke."
The study was conducted by researchers from St. Joseph Mercy
as well as Wayne State University in Detroit and Oakland University
in Rochester, Mich.
