Video Games & Blood Clots

You might have heard of blood clots from long airplane flights, but how about one from playing video games too long?

Economy class syndrome. That's when you get a blood clot in your legs from sitting in a cramped position for too long during a flight. Now it seems that a 20-year-old might have died from the same thing only he didn't fly; he just played video games.

A young man out of the UK recently died from what the coroner says was a blood clot to his leg that broke off and ended up in his lung. This type of clot, called a deep vein thrombosis, or DVT for short, forms when someone is inactive for long periods of time. According to the man's father, the 20-year-old would play his video games on line for up to 12 hours in one stretch. He thinks this is what caused the blood clot to form in the first place. This is a very rare occurrence, but does highlight the need to stay as active as possible.

Whether you're sitting on an airplane for hours on end, or sitting down at your computer or video game console, the bottom line is the same. You need to take breaks, get up and stretch and walk around a bit. Doing this, and keeping hydrated, both at home or on an airplane, can help prevent that clot from forming.