Posted on 09/14/2022 6:55:29 AM PDT by Red Badger
BLOOD clots are either dangerous or beneficial depending on how and where they form. According to a case study published in the Lancet, a woman almost lost her leg due to a dangerous blood clot after eating the same fruit daily - how much do you eat?
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Blood clots often form in response to injury. This is the body's way of stemming bleeding. However, blood clots that form in one or more of the deep veins in the body can spell trouble. This is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). According to a chilling case report published in the Lancet journal, a woman almost lost her leg to amputation after a blood clot formed in the deep veins in her leg. And the possible cause is as surprising as it is shocking.
The woman ate a grapefruit daily and researchers suggest this may have contributed to the blood clot formation.
Emergency doctors in Olympia, in the US Pacific coast state of Washington, treated the 42-year-old woman in November 2008 after she was admitted with shortness of breath, dizziness and difficulty walking.
An ultrasound scan found she had a large clot blocking the veins of her left leg.
She was in imminent danger of losing the limb to gangrene, but doctors administered a clot-busting drug directly into the blockage and safely dissolved it.
The physicians found she had taken a relatively long car journey, of about an hour and a half, the day before; took a daily dose of oestrogen oral contraceptives; and had a genetic variant, called the factor V Leiden mutation, which is linked to a blood-clot disorder.
All are well-established factors for causing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), as these dangerous events are called.
But what "may well have tipped the balance" is that she had been eating a grapefruit every morning under a weight-loss diet begun three days earlier, the report said.
Grapefruit juice is known to block the action of an enzyme called CYP3A4 which breaks down the contraceptive hormone oestrogen.
This in turn boosts levels of coagulability - the tendency of blood to clot.
Grapefruit juice is broken down only very slowly, which means that it has a cumulative effect if taken daily.
Thus, on the third day of her diet, the patient's oestrogen levels would have been many times above normal, helping the clot to form.
However, it's important to keep a sense of perspective. Commenting on the findings at the time, Doctor Trevor Baglin, Consultant Haematologist, Addenbrooke’s NHS Trust, said: “From this case study it appears as if the grapefruit enhanced the thrombotic effect of the contraceptive pill in the presence of a genetic predisposition."
He continued: "However, it is worth pointing out that this is a single case study and a very unusual case at that.
"I would suggest that any extreme diets should be avoided because they can have unpredictable consequences.”
It's worth noting that people on statins - drugs that lower cholesterol and the subsequent risk of blood clots - are advised against eating grapefruit.
Do not drink grapefruit juice if you're taking simvastatin (a common type of statin), advises the NHS.
"Grapefruit juice increases the level of simvastatin in your blood and makes side effects more likely," the health body warns.
As it goes on to explain, atorvastatin - another common statin - also interacts with grapefruit juice if you drink large quantities (more than 1.2 litres daily), but an occasional glass is thought to be safe.
"Currently, healthcare professionals advise it is safe to drink grapefruit juice and eat grapefruit if you're taking other types of statins."
To my knowledge, we’ve known about blood clotting associated with oral contraceptives since the 70s. We’ve also known that taking grapefruit juice with certain meds is contraindicated. This woman was a ticking time bomb because of her medical history, and the grapefruit maybe did accentuate the problem, but to me, the key thing was her predisposition to blood clots along with use of oral contraceptives for so long. This woman was 42, so taking contraceptives is more understandable.
I’m glad they were able to save her leg, but I wonder why in the world this article posted a week ago about a case from 2008 is making waves. Is it because blood clots have become a thing, mostly because of the vax? It’s interesting to try to figure out why some stories are written in the first place. Always an agenda. Always.
Your ignorant gullibility wrapped in patronizing tone is not adding anything here.
“Your ignorant gullibility...”
I’m gullible because I don’t reject basic biochemistry?
Okay...
What is crazy is that a 42 YO woman is still on the pill. Get the tubes tied lady, those pills are no bueno.
If you've been searching for a news headline to serve as a definition for the term non sequitur, look no more.
It also means I'm susceptible to DVT’s. The first one is when I discovered I had this mutation, about 17 years ago. Sat in one position over an hour and a half with the blood to my leg not flowing well.
Second time was on a plane trip. Third time was just over a year ago in my heel area.
I need to stay away from Vitamin K, that which interferes with the blood thinners.
I had a BC in my left leg in Feb 20.
Didn’t know what it was. My leg swelled up and I went to the clinic and they said “You have to go to the hospital, like right now! We’re calling an ambulance!”...........
Thought I had pulled my calf muscle, but after a week it wasn't getting better. Then started to ache and I finally saw a doctor who wrapped a string around my calf and showed me the size difference between my calves and it was obviously significantly swollen.
Immediately hospitalized and 3 days later the clot finally dissolved and it was no longer extremely painful to stand on.
Second and third DVT I knew that feeling and didn't hesitate to get it looked at. Interestingly, they treated it as an outpatient issue and I got to perform the wonderful task of jabbing myself next to my belly button twice a day for a week.
On thinners for life now.
I took Elequis for two months at $500 a month!
Medicare doesn’t pay for prescriptions outside the hospital.............😒
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