Risk Factors
Almost anyone can develop pulmonary embolism, but there are certain conditions which raise the risk bars for certain groups of people. Certainly, if you’ve had a pulmonary embolism in the past or you are related to someone who has had it once, you have a high chance of developing it. It is important to know one’s chances of developing pulmonary embolism in order to watch out for warning signs and symptoms early enough. Some of the risk factors border on health issues, such as heart disease, cancer, surgery, clotting disorders, and COVID-19 disease. If you have a diagnosis of any of the diseases mentioned above, you would like to watch out. Other factors that increase the risk for pulmonary embolism are listed below:
- Being inactive or bed-ridden for a prolonged period of time, or even taking long trips on which you don’t get to stretch once in a while.
- Excessive use of tobacco, such as in chronic smokers, increases the risk of a blood clot forming in the blood vessels.
- Obesity and overweight.
- Taking oestrogen supplements in drugs or therapy have a way of increasing the level of clot factors in the blood, especially if the person smokes too.
- Pregnancy, due to the weight of the baby impeding blood flow. Blood usually clots at a slow velocity. [2]