While your blood’s ability to clot is a crucial part of recovery from a scrape or more serious injury, blood clots can be dangerous or even deadly outside of that realm.
Up to 900,000 Americans each year develop a blood clot, which is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 60,000 to 100,000 people die each year from blood clot complications.
Technically, anyone can develop a blood clot and at any time. But certain risk factors increase the odds you’ll develop one, according to cardiologists. If you have one of these risk factors and engage in a very common morning habit, you may raise your risk level even more, according to Cheng-Han Chen, interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program