Infection linked to dangerous blood clots in veins and lungs, U-M study shows
Older adults at much greater risk for being hospitalized for a blood clot within 3 months of getting an infection
2012-04-04
(Press-News.org) Research shows iOlder adults who get infections of any kind – such as urinary, skin, or respiratory tract infections – are nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized for a dangerous blood clot in their deep veins or lungs, University of Michigan Health System research shows.
The most common predictor of hospitalization for venous thromboembolism – a potentially life-threatening condition that includes both deep-vein and lung blood clots – was recent exposure to an infection, according to the study released April 3 ahead of print in Circulation.
"Over half of older Americans who were hospitalized for such blood clots had an infection in the 90 days prior to the hospitalization," says lead author Mary Rogers, Ph.D., M.S., research assistant professor in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and research director of the Patient Safety Enhancement Program at the U-M Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
"This is important because infections are common and many people do not link infections with developing blood clots. In fact, many educational websites do not list infections as a risk factor for blood clots – but they are."
The study comes as the rate of hospitalization for venous thromboembolism steadily increases in the United States, with more than 330,000 hospital admissions for this condition a year.
"We would like to decrease the number of preventable hospitalizations, both for the benefit of the patient and to help bring down the cost of medicine," says Rogers, pictured left. "We wanted to study the triggers of hospitalization to help us understand what is driving such admissions and to think about actions we can take in order to prevent these hospitalizations."
If the infection occurred during a previous hospital or nursing home stay, patients were nearly seven times more likely to be admitted for a blood clot. Those who got the infection at home were nearly three times more likely to be sent to the hospital for a blood clot within 90 days.
The study also found that other strong predictors of hospitalization for blood clots included blood transfusions and drugs prescribed to stimulate red blood cell production (known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents), which are sometimes given to treat anemia. The risk of hospitalization for blood clots was nine times greater after the use of these drugs.
Rogers and her colleagues conducted the study using participants in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally-representative sample of older Americans, and combined their information with Medicare files. The Health and Retirement Study is conducted by the U-M Institute for Social Research on behalf of the National Institute of Aging.
"There is a national effort to decrease infections in hospitals but we need to pay attention to prevention regardless of where we are. Older Americans can help out by keeping up-to-date with their immunizations and practicing good hygiene such as hand washing," Rogers says. "This is particularly important for people who are already at higher risk of blood clots. This includes smokers, people who are overweight, and those individuals who are immobile."
"Often we don't think about the downstream consequences of infection," Rogers adds "The infection itself may trigger blood clots in your deep veins which may travel to your lungs and block the arteries there. This can be fatal. It's a risk both patients and physicians need to be aware of."
INFORMATION:
Additional Authors: In addition to Rogers, authors of the study were Kenneth Langa, M.D., Ph.D.; Deborah Levine, M.D., MPH; Neil Blumberg, M.D.; Scott Flanders, M.D.; and Vineet Chopra, M.D.
Funding: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging.
Conflict of Interest: Blumberg received lecture fees from the blood technology companies Fenwal, Caridian and Pall and was a consultant to Fenwal.
Citation: DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.084467fections raise the risk for older adults to be hospitalized for dangerous blood clots.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-04-04
LA JOLLA, CA – April 3, 2012 ¬– A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has found antibodies that can prevent infection from widely differing strains of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in cell culture and animal models.
HCV's very high rate of mutation normally helps it to evade its host's immune system. The newly discovered antibodies, however, attach to sites on the viral envelope that seldom mutate. One of the new antibodies, AR4A, shows broader HCV neutralizing activity than any previously reported anti-HCV antibody.
"These antibodies attach to sites ...
2012-04-04
In this 17-minute short the writer of El Cantante, starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, has now taken on the role of writer, producer and director.
Blind hell depicts the story of a man who takes a questionable moral path in life, only to lose everything he cares about, including his eyesight.
Treading though life in his "Blind Hell", the character is given a second chance for life and redemption.
"I believe in karma. I think life catches up with you, but everyone needs a second chance. I know I myself have been given a million chances," ...
2012-04-04
EAST LANSING, Mich. — For children with autism, being born several weeks early or several weeks late tends to increase the severity of their symptoms, according to new research out of Michigan State University.
Additionally, autistic children who were born either preterm or post-term are more likely to self-injure themselves compared with autistic children born on time, revealed the study by Tammy Movsas of MSU's Department of Epidemiology.
Though the study did not uncover why there is an increase in autistic symptoms, the reasons may be tied to some of the underlying ...
2012-04-04
I voluntarily began my tour of Sicilian dwellings at this 17th Century Palazzo built on the old city walls because of its owners who are my friends. My feelings for this place, the last home of the famous writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, are particularly fond and my appreciation for its imposing beauty have kept me close to the actual owner, Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi, whose painstaking restoration of the structure and its halls have brought it back to its original grandeur.
Today I have left my sentimentalism behind and replaced it with a professional attitude.
As ...
2012-04-04
Exercise which can achieve both cardiovascular function and muscle strength "would be a preferred mode of training for older persons", say investigators
Experienced practitioners of Tai Chi, the traditional Chinese mind-body exercise now enjoyed worldwide, have been shown in a study of older subjects to have improved expansion and contraction of arteries according to cardiac pulsation (arterial compliance) and improved knee muscle strength.(1)
The findings, say the investigators, of better muscle strength without jeopardising arterial compliance suggest that Tai Chi ...
2012-04-04
A study of the sexes reveals that when it comes to starting a business, women are more likely than men to consider individual responsibility and use business as a vehicle for social and environmental change.
"We found that women are 1.17 times more likely than men to create social ventures than economic ventures, and women are 1.23 times more likely to pursue environmental ventures than economic focused ventures," says Diana Hechevarria, a doctoral candidate in management and entrepreneurship in the University of Cincinnati's Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
Hechevarria, ...
2012-04-04
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Golfers looking to improve their putting may find an advantage in visualizing the hole as bigger, according to a new study from Purdue University.
"People in our study made more successful putts in a smaller hole when a visual illusion helped them perceive it as larger," said Jessica K. Witt, an assistant professor of psychological science who studies perception in sports. "We know that how people perceive the environment affects their ability to act in it, such as scoring as basket or hitting a baseball, and now we know that seeing a target as ...
2012-04-04
Stephen W. Stewart, founding member of The Stewart Law Firm, P.L.L.C. in Austin, Texas, is pleased to announce that Burgess Williams has joined the firm as an associate attorney. Burgess devotes his career to helping those injured as a result of the negligence of others. Burgess handles cases involving wrongful death, workplace injuries, oilfield/industrial injuries, 18-wheeler crashes, motor vehicle crashes, defective products, toxic exposure, and insurance bad faith claims.
Burgess Williams is a graduate of Wake Forest University, where he received a B.A. in History. ...
2012-04-04
According to Facebook's own newsroom, the social media giant has more than 845 million users who log into the social platform each month. And for many of those users, it is not simply about keeping in contact with old friends and playing games -- it is about getting the information they need. Facebook recognizes this by continuing to make changes to the platform to make it more user-friendly.
Thanks to one of Facebook's most recent changes, Timeline for Pages, businesses like the law firm of Trolman, Glaser & Lichtman (TGL) can provide more information to injured ...
2012-04-04
BIOLOGY -- When neutrons and simulation unite . . .
Scientific analysis of proteins, the workhorses of the cellular world, could become easier by uniting experimental and simulation techniques, according to research published in Biophysical Journal. A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Jeremy Smith demonstrated how the combination of high-performance computer simulation and a type of neutron analysis called spin echo can be used to study certain motions in proteins. When large chunks of proteins called domains move relative to each other, these interdomain motions ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Infection linked to dangerous blood clots in veins and lungs, U-M study shows
Older adults at much greater risk for being hospitalized for a blood clot within 3 months of getting an infection
