The nexus between blood clot and obesity is well known. But it was not until April 2002 that researchers could understand how fat cells increased the risk of hypercoagulability (technical name for blood clot). Nearly 5-8 percent people suffer from this condition in the United States which lacks any specific treatment. Physical disorders like excess weight play a major role in the development and worsening of it.
How Obesity is Linked with Hypercoagulability?
- Fat cells in the body produce a signalling molecule or hormone called Leptin which controls our body weight by suppressing the appetite.
- Receptors in the cells of heart and brain catch these signals of Leptin hormone to carry out bodily functions.
- According to the researchers, learning how to block this cellular communication could prevent heart attack and stroke in half of the obese or overweight adult population of this country.
- What was learnt from the research is that generally in healthy people when leptin levels rises, the brain signals the body to stop eating.
- But presence of excess fat cells in obese and overweight people raise the levels of Leptin abnormally.
- This undesirable condition leads to a state where the body becomes resistant to the signals of Leptin, and a consequence of this is an increased risk of leptin-induced blood clotting.
- The process of blood clotting due to increased Leptin levels was understood by carrying out laboratory tests on experimental mice.
- Platelets are the type of blood cells which clot the blood and help in healing a wound by sticking together to each other on reaching a site of injury.
- These cells also have receptors on them to catch the signals of Leptin hormones and the interactions which take place as a result cause blood clot in obese and overweight people.
Conclusion: The results of the research findings were published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association by scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School. The study funded by the National Institutes of Health helped the medical fraternity and general public gain further insights and become more aware of obesity complications. Increased Leptin levels in the liquid part of the blood or plasma was marked as a high risk factor of hypercoagulability.
