Show Date: July 26, 2006 
Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

DEEP VEIN

Welcome to The Deep science and technology column where we cover topics from the deep sea to deep space and beyond. Join us each week on Newstalk K57 on Wednesday night from 7 to 8 p.m. for exciting live science expeditions or listen live on our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com

Most of you know that this column is produced to compliment the science talk radio show The Deep. It even says that in the preceding paragraph. But many of you may not be aware that Jim Sullivan, the host of The Deep radio program has been medically evacuated to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. He’s suffering from a condition called deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and some of you could have the same problem. It’s one of those nasty diseases that usually have no symptoms in the early stages. Then, if you ignore it, it creeps up on you and gets you!

You’ve all had a thrombus. That’s simply fancy medical talk for a blood clot. If our blood didn’t clot, we’d bleed to death from a paper cut. But if a thrombus occurs inside a vein instead of at the site of a cut or injury, the blood clot can block the flow of blood in the vein. Blood pools in the arms and legs since it can’t easily make its way past the clot and the arm or leg may swell. But that’s not the real problem. These blood clots can break off from the side of the vein where they are attached and travel into large veins where they ultimately end up in either the lungs. Blood clots in the lungs cause pulmonary embolism which adversely affects your ability to breathe.

A swollen leg caused by DVT

Pulmonary embolisms are scary things. They are the third most common cause of death in the US, with at least 650,000 cases occurring annually and they are the first or second most common cause of unexpected death in most age groups. The highest incidence of recognized PE occurs in hospitalized patients. Autopsy results show that as many as 60% of patients who die in the hospital have had a PE, but the diagnosis has been missed in about 70% of the cases. Almost all cases of pulmonary embolism are diagnosed during autopsies and the blood clots have caused the death.

Doctors and other medical researchers are just beginning to realize how dangerous deep vein thrombosis and the resulting embolisms can be. One of the risk factors for DVT is sitting for long periods of time without getting up. This should be a wake-up call for all you couch potatoes, but there’s another situation that many of us find ourselves in that is known to contribute to DVT. When was the last time you sat for 10 or 12 hours without getting up? On the airplane, of course! Long airplane rides are known risk factors for developing DVT. The next time you’re on the plane, don’t just sit there for hours with your knees bent. Get up and move around! Walk up and down the aisle, and failing that, stretch and extend your legs in the seat. That may not be the easiest thing to do, but given the horrible statistics for pulmonary embolisms, it’s certainly the safest!

Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms are not something to mess around with and we are all very glad that Jim is getting the best care possible in Los Angeles. We’ll be talking to him about his treatment and also talking about other science news this week on The Deep.

The Deep is broadcast on Newstalk K57 every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. You can also listen live from our web site www.thedeepradioshow.com. Join Jim Sullivan, Pam Eastlick, and Peter Melyan on the deepest radio show on Earth.