Blood poisoning ups blood clots' risk

Researchers have said that blood poisoning could increase the risk of blood clots.

Michael Dalager-Pedersen, PhD student at Aarhus University and Registrar at Aalborg University Hospital, said that they have have followed more than 4,000 people who have been admitted with blood poisoning.

He said that the study shows that the risk of suffering a blood clot in either the brain or the heart is twice as high for patients with blood poisoning in relation to other patients who are also admitted with acute illnesses.

He has carried out the study in collaboration with colleagues from Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital, and Aalborg University Hospital.

The risk of a blood clot was highest within the first 30 days after the infection, where the risk was 3.6 percent against 1.7 percent for the other acutely admitted patients, and only 0.2 percent among the population in general.

Dalager-Pedersen added that explains that the correlation may, among other things, be due to the fact that the blood clots arise due to the increased strain on the heart and blood vessels that the infection causes.

The study has just published in journal Circulation.