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Inside Health

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Series that demystifies health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.

Series that demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice.

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Inside Health: Blood Clots, Iron Supplements, Doctor's Bag

30/01/2018

Blood Clots, Iron Supplements, Doctor's Bag

BBC Radio 4 - Inside Health, Blood Clots, Iron Supplements, Doctor's Bag

Blood clots acquired in hospital. Taking iron supplements. Plus what is in a doctor's bag?

Prevention of Blood clots acquired in hospital. Iron deficiency, a very common problem, but what is the best way to treat it? And what is in a doctor's bag? With Dr Mark Porter.

Over half of all blood clots are acquired during hospitalisation, particularly for surgery, so prevention is key. Deep vein thromboses - DVTs - typically occur in the veins of the leg and central to prevention is the need to assess individual risk, while taking steps like special stockings, leg massagers and anticoagulant "blood thinning" drugs to mitigate them. But there are concerns in some quarters - particularly among orthopaedic surgeons - that the drive to protect patients against clots has exposed them to risks of bleeding and that the pendulum has swung too far the other way. Three leading specialists discuss the issues. And iron deficiency, a very common problem, but what is the best way to treat it? New research from Switzerland unexpectedly suggests that giving less iron, less frequently, leads to more absorption. Plus, what's in a doctor's bag?

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