Posted by Henry I. Bussey, Pharm.D., FCCP
Blood clots in the leg (called deep vein thrombosis or DVT) and an irregular heart beat called atrial fibrillation (AF) increase rather dramatically in older age individuals. Recent estimates are that as many as 2 million Americans may experience a DVT annually and up to 6 million may have AF. The potential consequences of DVT include a blood clot going to the lungs (called a pulmonary embolism or PE) and AF places an individual at increased of stroke from a blood clot going to the brain. DVT and PE are often considered together as venous thromboembolism or VTE. ClotCare received the information listed below from the Alliance for Aging Research after a ClotCare representative participated in the development of some of this information.
Information provided by the Alliance for Aging Research – with edits by ClotCare – starts here:
The Alliance for Aging Research has produced new materials on atrial fibrillation (AF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE). The resources are designed for patients and underscore that with proper treatment and care, people with these conditions can live long and healthy lives. We have been sending out information to health care professionals so that they can use them in their patient education efforts.
For AF, we created a brochure (http://www.agingresearch.org/Publications/view/116#.VOZDKPnF-Sq) with information on symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, stroke prevention, and more. We have an on-line quiz (http://www.agingresearch.org/Quizzes/view/19) that tests people’s knowledge about the disease. We also produced two “pocket films” that are brief, accessible, and designed to be viewed on computers, smartphones, tablets, waiting room TVs, etc. The first is on AFib generally (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj3rLviG1YA) and has already been viewed on YouTube more than 30,000 times. A second film on stroke prevention (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMelozbKMgE) has been viewed more than 42,000 times. Both films are also available in Spanish—at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuMyg5yjv0s and (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL77f8EhGHM). All of the resources are available on our AFib page at http://www.agingresearch.org/atrialfibrillation where you can also find the results of a survey of more than 500 adults, age 65 and older, who have been diagnosed with AFib (http://www.agingresearch.org/Publications/view/119#.VOZFK_nF-Sq).
For VTE we also created a brochure (http://www.agingresearch.org/Publications/view/117#.VOZFmfnF-Sq) with information on symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and more. We have an on-line quiz (http://www.agingresearch.org/Quizzes/view/20) for these resources that test people’s knowledge about the condition. We also produced a pocket film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJGeh00hPAE) on living with VTE and preventing deadly blood clots that has been viewed more than 40,000 times. It’s also available in Spanish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHGgEV7TF6U). All of the resources are available on http://www.agingresearch.org/VTE.
ClotCare Online Resource 