Avoid damaging and deadly blood clots, from the Harvard Heart Letter
Deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) is a dangerous blood clot that forms deep in a leg or arm vein. Pulmonary embolism (PE) is its most serious—and often deadly—complication. Each year 100,000 people die from DVT and PE, more than die from breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined. You may have heard of these conditions as “economy class syndrome.” But that's misleading. Air travel accounts for a tiny minority of DVT or PE cases. Injury, immobilization, and clotting disorders are the big culprits, reports the May 2009 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter.
You can take simple steps to prevent DVT and PE. Moving your legs is the best medicine:
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