THE DEHYDRATED EXECUTIVE
Without realising it, many executives regularly slip into a state of semi-dehydration. This happens particularly to those who drink moderate amounts of coffee or alcohol, smoke or travel a lot by air.
The problem with dehydration is that it is a little-recognised but potent risk factor for stroke, and highly stressed executives, who are vulnerable to stroke anyway, don’t need any extra risk.
Anything that makes the blood thicker is a risk factor for stroke. If the viscosity of the blood increases, it becomes sluggish and more predisposed to clot. Smoking thickens blood. In response to less inhaled oxygen, the body produces extra red blood cells, which in turn make the blood thicker.
Caffeine and alcohol are well-known diuretics and cause a loss of fluid. This reduces the water content of the blood and consequently thickens it. Dehydration in the dry and artificial environment of a plane is common, especially among those who take long-haul flights.
The danger of dehydration is that it can trigger the process that culminates in a stroke even in people with perfectly healthy blood vessels. Clots usually do not form inside healthy arteries because they have a high velocity of flow. Clots can form in healthy veins, however, because in veins there is relative calm.
All that is needed to start a venous thrombosis is one small precipitant. Just as a grain of sand acts as an irritant in an oyster and causes it to form a pearl, so a tiny precipitant in a vein can cause a large clot. But while it takes the oyster years to produce a pearl, a clot can form during one flight from Australia to the UK.
Once a small clot has formed there is a cascading effect and it grows rapidly. And one clot begets another: once it has formed it is recognised as an abnormality in the vessels, adjacent factors clot onto it, and so it expands.
When a well-known 60-something Sydney executive saw the size of his venous clot he was astounded. It was as long as his thumb. The man fit perfectly the description of a dehydrated executive, smoking 70 cigarettes a day, drinking 14 cups of coffee, never touching water and constantly travelling by air.
In the week before the clot declared itself, the executive had been flying to or from Melbourne every night. Early the following week he was sitting at the kitchen table at home in Sydney having a cup of coffee and chatting to his wife when he began to feel strange. ‘Wafty’ was how he described it. A few minutes later he could hear and understand everything his wife was saying but could not respond. ll couldn’t articulate or think. My thoughts wouldn’t come together and I felt my brain closing off.’
A venous clot can form anywhere in the body but in his case it had formed in the main vein draining his brain. The clot caused back pressure, which meant freshly oxygenated blood couldn’t get in to service his brain.
Suddenly, he turned the colour of liver and passed out, only to regain consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
There, he was given medication to dissolve the clot and strongly
advised to quit smoking and drinking coffee and not to fly long THE DEHYDRATED EXECUTIVE
Without realising it, many executives regularly slip into a state of semi-dehydration. This happens particularly to those who drink moderate amounts of coffee or alcohol, smoke or travel a lot by air.
The problem with dehydration is that it is a little-recognised but potent risk factor for stroke, and highly stressed executives, who are vulnerable to stroke anyway, don’t need any extra risk.
Anything that makes the blood thicker is a risk factor for stroke. If the viscosity of the blood increases, it becomes sluggish and more predisposed to clot. Smoking thickens blood. In response to less inhaled oxygen, the body produces extra red blood cells, which in turn make the blood thicker.
Caffeine and alcohol are well-known diuretics and cause a loss of fluid. This reduces the water content of the blood and consequently thickens it. Dehydration in the dry and artificial environment of a plane is common, especially among those who take long-haul flights.
The danger of dehydration is that it can trigger the process that culminates in a stroke even in people with perfectly healthy blood vessels. Clots usually do not form inside healthy arteries because they have a high velocity of flow. Clots can form in healthy veins, however, because in veins there is relative calm.
All that is needed to start a venous thrombosis is one small precipitant. Just as a grain of sand acts as an irritant in an oyster and causes it to form a pearl, so a tiny precipitant in a vein can cause a large clot. But while it takes the oyster years to produce a pearl, a clot can form during one flight from Australia to the UK.
Once a small clot has formed there is a cascading effect and it grows rapidly. And one clot begets another: once it has formed it is recognised as an abnormality in the vessels, adjacent factors clot onto it, and so it expands.
When a well-known 60-something Sydney executive saw the size of his venous clot he was astounded. It was as long as his thumb. The man fit perfectly the description of a dehydrated executive, smoking 70 cigarettes a day, drinking 14 cups of coffee, never touching water and constantly travelling by air.
In the week before the clot declared itself, the executive had been flying to or from Melbourne every night. Early the following week he was sitting at the kitchen table at home in Sydney having a cup of coffee and chatting to his wife when he began to feel strange. ‘Wafty’ was how he described it. A few minutes later he could hear and understand everything his wife was saying but could not respond. ll couldn’t articulate or think. My thoughts wouldn’t come together and I felt my brain closing off.’
A venous clot can form anywhere in the body but in his case it had formed in the main vein draining his brain. The clot caused back pressure, which meant freshly oxygenated blood couldn’t get in to service his brain.
Suddenly, he turned the colour of liver and passed out, only to regain consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
There, he was given medication to dissolve the clot and strongly
advised to quit smoking and drinking coffee and not to fly long
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