Prevention

Reducing your risk

It isn't possible to entirely prevent blood clots from forming, but there are numerous ways you can minimize your risk.

Medication

If you've previously had a blood clot, you may need to take medicines to reduce the risk of it happening again. These include:

1. statins to lower your blood cholesterol levels
2. anticoagulant medicines such as warfarin, sinthrone, dabigatran, apixiban, rivaroxaban, orantiplatelet medicines, such as low-dose aspirin or clopidogrel, to thin the blood and reduce the risk of clotting
3. antihypertensive medicinesto reduce high blood pressure such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors

Lifestyle

You can also reduce your risk of developing arterial thrombosis and heart disease by:

• not smoking
• reducing the amount of salt you eat
• cutting downon fat (particularly saturated fat)
• eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day
• doing a minimum of 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes) of moderate-intensity exercise a week, such as fast walking , cycling or water aerobics (read more about the physical activity guidelines for adults )

The main things you can do are:

• stop smoking
• have a healthy diet
• exercise regularly
• maintain a healthy weight – read advice about losing weight
• cut down on your alcohol consumption

If you're at a high risk of getting a blood clot, your doctor may also recommend taking medication such as:

• statins for high cholesterol
• medicines for high blood pressure
• medicines to reduce the risk of your blood clotting – for example, anticoagulants (such as warfarin) and antiplatelets (such as low-dose aspirin or clopidogrel)

In order to reduce the risks for a second vascular accident, it is resommended:

1. Use antilipidemic drugs (statins, such as atorvastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin, ciprofibrates etc) in order to maintain normal levels of fats in the blood.
2. Anticoagulants: acenocumarol, warfarine, rivaroxaban, and antithrombotics like clepidogrel and aspirin at small dosages.
3. Antihypertensive medication to maintain arterial hypertension under control.

Additional advice

It is important to note that altering one’s lifestyle following such a condition is vital. It is recommended to:

1. Quit smoking
2. Reducing salt in one’s everyday diet
3. Removing harmful fats from one’s diet, such as red meat, fresh butter, hard cheese, heavy fat milk, etc.
4. Increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables being consumed per day (at least 5 portions per day).
5. Physical exercise for up to 2 hours and a half a week, at a certain level of exertion and under the control of a specialist.