Factor V Leiden Mutation

[Strange Famous]

Does anyone know much about this? My mum has foudn out that she has it (she doesnt know if she has the hetero or homo type) and that apparently means there is a 50% chance I could have it - I have to have a blood test next week.

I have read up a lot on it today on the net, I know that it is to do with blood clots, but most of what I could find was technical medical data and stuff, if anyone knows, please could someone explain to me in layman's terms what it means, and how worried I should be?

[raeanna74]

Factor V Leiden, an inherited clotting disorder in men and women, leaves sufferers highly vulnerable to blood clots and so at greater risk for strokes, heart attacks, miscarriages, and more.
WebMD

I know you said you read up on it but I thought this sounded fairly clear.

It sounds like the blood either doesn't clot or has a greater tendency to clot depending on how this gene is mutated. This means that when you are laid up for an extended period of time you are at a greater risk for blood clots in your legs. The risk with these clots is that if they are loosed that they can move to your heart and cause a heart attack. Blood clots that form around the heart or brain can cause strokes and heart attacks.

If your mother or you had a problem with your blood not clotting you probably would have noticed it by now because minor cuts would be hard to stop bleeding. If it's the other way and your blood clots too much you might or might not have problems with it. Medications and long periods of inactivity can cause your blood to clot more as well and complicate something that can be only minor. If your mother had you then she probably did not show symptoms of this because preganacy is usually when women discover that they have this problem. You both could be carriers of the gene and just not have symptoms of it or even be at risk yourselves. It would be your children in that case whom you would want to watch for any problems in the future if you do carry the gene. This is all I can understand from what I've read. Hope it helps and hope someone else here can help even more.

[Strange Famous]

What I read said they werent sure if it increased risk of stroke, but it was dangeroud for pregnant women, was the main cause of DVT's, and could cause pulmonary thrombosis (Im guessing that means heart attack?)

My mum has had 5 DVT's, 3 in the last 3 years, I've never had any major health problems (touch wood) so far, but I am overweight.