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Healthy Balance

Treating and Preventing Pulmonary Embolisms

Pulmonary embolisms occur when an artery in your lung gets blocked.

They’re the fourth leading cause of cardiovascular deaths in the U.S. They’re also a common cause of deaths in hospitals. Symptoms include:

  • Chest pain or heaviness, especially pain that comes on suddenly
  • Shortness of breath
  • Heart palpitations
  • Swollen legs

Pulmonary embolisms are more common in older people. They tend to be triggered by sitting or lying down for a long period of time.

In this week’s podcast, Aditya M. Sharma, MBBS, explains how you can prevent these blocked arteries and how they’re treated.

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