Sports linked to lower clot risk

LEIDEN, Netherlands, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Weekly participation in sports reduced the risk of developing blood clots by 39 percent in women and 22 percent in men, a Dutch study found.

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands concluded that while strenuous activity is known to increase the risk of blood clot development in the elderly, regular exercise is also shown to greatly benefit the heart and that the net effect of elderly sports participation may be positive.

The researchers evaluated 7,860 people ages 18 to 70 and compared those who had suffered their first blood clot in a leg vein or lung artery with control subjects who had never experienced blood clots.

The study, published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, indicated participating in any sport at least once a week reduced the risk of developing a blood clot in a lung artery by 46 percent and in a leg vein by 24 percent.

"Women were shown to be even more likely to reap the benefits of regular sporting activities than men," study co-author F.R. Rosendaal said in a statement. "When we excluded women who were pregnant or receiving oral contraceptive or hormone replacement therapy -- all possible causes of blood clots -- the risk for women was reduced by 55 percent."