Secretary of State Hillary Clinton returns to work next week after being hospitalized for a blood clot, and there is renewed interest in preventing this medical condition, especially from those over fifty.
We asked HuffPost readers for additional thoughts to our five blood clot risk factors.
If you have more advice, send us a note at openreporting@huffingtonpost.com.
A reader shared her scary highway experience:
I had recently celebrated my 35th Birthday and a few days later, I had a numbing/tingling sensation in my right leg that went on for days...I thought I had a pinched nerve, never gave it much thought. A few days later, I was driving on the interstate when all the sudden, I couldn't catch my breath. I was frightened and could feel that I my whole body was getting tingly and could pass out at any moment. So I pulled off the interstate, the scariest exit you could imagine, and called 911. The dispatcher kept me on the phone until the ambulance arrived.
Many doctors later and several trips to hospitals with multiple clots, I was finally diagnosed with Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) - a blood clotting disorder. Know and listen to your body, it can save your life!
Christina Polman, president and executive director of APS Foundation of America, Inc. gives a tip for recovery:
Get out of bed and move around as soon as you are able after having surgery or being ill. The sooner you move around the less chance you have to develop a clot.
A reader recommends compression stockings for travel:
If you know you are prone to clots wear compression stockings, especially if you are traveling with lots of periods of long sitting.
Another reader advises talking to family:
Ask your immediate family members if they have had blood clots. Many people are genetically predisposed to getting them and if you don't talk to your family about their medical history, then you won't know if you are at a higher risk.
Finally, a reader writes about a related condition:
My husband suffered a pulmonary embolism after a clot dislodged itself from his leg. It turns out he has a disorder called Factor V Leiden, a genetic condition which causes your blood to clot too quickly.
My advice to anyone who has had a blood clot is to be tested for this disease so that you can be treated (my husband will be on a blood-thinning drug for the rest of his life).
Do you have other advice? Tell us: openreporting@huffingtonpost.com
Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.