An Ultimate Guide to Clotting Factors

When you cut yourself, your body has a way of stopping the bleeding. It clots. And it does so thanks to an intricate system that is highly efficient in most cases. But when something goes wrong with the clotting process, this can have undesirable consequences for health and well-being. This is why knowing about clotting factors is essential. In Metairie, LA, some centers will help you restore these factors to the correct levels. What you need is to aim at the best Metairie clotting factors specialist.

What is a Clotting Factor and What Does it Do?

A clotting factor is a protein that helps the blood to clot. There are many different clotting factors, and they all work together in a coordinated fashion to ensure that bleeding is stopped as quickly as possible.

The clotting process begins when platelets tiny cells in the blood that help it to clot come into contact with a blood vessel that has been damaged. The platelets stick to the area of the blood vessel. That has been broken and formed a plug, reducing or stopping blood flow. 

Tiny fibers in the platelets, fibrinogen, then change shape and join into larger pieces called fibrins. The sticky platelets and fibrins together make up the plug, while other parts of the coagulation process form a mesh around the blood vessel to ensure nothing can get through.

The Most Important Clotting Factors

There are many clotting factors, but some are more important than others. Factor II (prothrombin) and VII (proconvertin) are essential clotting factors. There is also Factor VIII (antihemophilic factor).

Factor II is responsible for converting the inactive form of the vitamin prothrombin into the active form thrombin, which helps to activate several other clotting factors. Factor VII is necessary for blood clotting because it activates the body’s natural anticoagulant mechanism, preventing excessive or inappropriate coagulation. Factor VIII is essential in helping the formation of a fibrin mesh around the vessel wall so that no red blood cells are lost.

How to Increase Your Clotting Factors

A person might have too few of these clotting factors in rare cases. The body makes defective clotting factors and doesn’t work correctly. In both of these cases, there is a risk of bleeding.

There are several ways you can increase your levels of vital clotting factors:

• If Factor II is low, you can take prothrombin supplements to increase levels.
• If Factor VII is low, you can take liver extracts, or synthetic Factor VII concentrates on boosting levels.
• If Factor VIII is low, you can receive Factor VIII concentrates intravenously.

Why See a Specialist?

Although it might be possible to increase your body’s clotting factors through supplements, you should see a doctor to ensure no underlying conditions. If you improve your clotting factors without addressing any underlying problems, you may end up worsening the situation later on.

A clotting factor is a protein that helps the blood to clot. There are many different clotting factors, and they all work together in a coordinated fashion to ensure that bleeding stops as quickly as possible. The most crucial clotting factors are prothrombin, proconvertin, and antihemophilic factors. Seeing a specialist is significant.

Jennifer Eonflux