Jalen Hurts has blood clots. What factors can worsen the condition?
Jalen Hurts is out for the rest of the NFL season due to blood clots in his leg and lungs. A Northeastern expert explains.
People who sit for several hours at a time, such as over the course of a workday, are advised by medical professionals to regularly move their bodies to keep the blood flowing to reduce the prevalence of blood clots.
But even those whose livelihood depends on being active, like professional athletes, are at risk for developing blood clots.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is out for the rest of the season after being diagnosed with blood clots in his leg and lungs. Monday’s revelation of his diagnosis sheds renewed light on how long-haul flights and little sleep can potentially worsen this condition.
Hurts reported left calf pain to the team’s medical staff on Oct. 8, having been cleated during a game four days prior, according to a team statement. The 28-year-old football player received an ultrasound on Saturday, Oct. 10, after flying to London for a matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and was diagnosed with a left calf superficial blood clot. He played Sunday, Oct. 11, received treatment in the days that followed and participated in another practice before another ultrasound found a small blood clot, according to the team.
The diagnosis evolved to deep vein thrombosis and bilateral pulmonary emboli, meaning clots are in both of his lungs, his agent, Nicole Lynn, posted on X. Hurts will be treated with blood thinners. He has been grounded from playing until he is off that medication and he is expected to recover fully, Lynn said. She did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from Northeastern Global News.
Other sports stars have had similar experiences. Tennis star Serena Williams has a history of blood clots, and NBA Hall of Famer Chris Bosh had an early retirement due to this medical condition.
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Northeastern University’s EMT program director DJ Corey explained what a blood clot is, why these are rare in athletes like Hurts and what doctors could be investigating to better understand the NFL player’s health.
What is a blood clot? Deep vein thrombosis? Pulmonary embolism?
“I always describe blood clots as similar to a beaver building a dam, where you have all these little elements that you need to lash and tie together,” Corey said. “That’s good if I cut my arm and blood’s falling out of my body and I want to keep it on the inside. That’s bad if I have blood I need to bring by my lungs to get oxygen into that blood and carbon dioxide out of that blood.”
Deep vein thrombosis is a type of blood clot that develops in the deep vein, usually in the legs, whereas a pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that travels through the body and gets lodged in an artery in the lung. Genetics or injuries can play a role in developing blood clots.
Corey said that Hurts’ long-haul journey to London could have contributed to the blood clot “becoming a really emergent issue.”
How does sleep or a long-haul flight factor into a blood clot?
Corey explained that when sitting without moving on a transatlantic flight or in a truck for long hours, not squeezing the leg muscles to keep the blood flowing “promotes the formation of a clot.”
After standing, when the blood starts pumping again, that clot can break off – traveling from its point of origination, through larger and larger pipes, until it reaches the heart, and then through the small arteries in the lungs, Corey added.
“When we are not sleeping, we have higher levels of different stress hormones like cortisol,” Corey said. “Those higher levels of stress hormones predispose us to clotting and can predispose us to having tighter blood vessels, our heart beating harder, our vessels squeezing a little bit, our blood pressure being higher.”
Higher blood pressure can push a clot and cause it to get lodged elsewhere, like in one of those stress-tightened vessels.
Why is this diagnosis so concerning for an athlete like Jalen Hurts?
“It doesn’t happen as commonly to athletes because they are generally pretty fit and have great blood flow,” Corey said. “But when you start to add this amount of travel in, it is a risk factor for everybody when you have these long periods of sitting and not getting up and moving. And that’s why you hear [of] people wearing compression socks or getting up and walking, not just because we all have to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes on a flight, but also … quite literally to keep the blood flowing.”
What will doctors be looking for?
“They’re looking to see why he is forming these blood clots, because he is a young, fit, otherwise relatively healthy, peak fitness guy, and making sure that he is not going to continue to form these in a way that would be threatening to him,” Corey explained.
How can people reduce their risk?
Corey suggested that people get up and move after sitting for long periods of time.
“It’s not just so you mentally feel better,” he said. “It’s not just for our weight and nutrition and exercise. It’s also to keep the blood flowing, in the most literal sense possible.”
