Are Blood Clots in Legs and Lungs Normal?

For a 32-year-old professional football player?

The news of unusual health scares in the pro sports world keep coming relentlessly. “Browns wide receiver Marquise Goodwin will miss start of camp with blood clots…” (Cleaveland.com, 2023.07.21):

Goodwin, signed this offseason, said he began experiencing discomfort in his legs and slight shortness of breath during organized team activities in the spring, and a check-up revealed the blood clots in his legs and lungs.

“It was frightening at first, but now I’m at ease with it. I’ve prayed and just given it over to God. It’s out of my control, and the only thing I can control is my effort and attitude and how I approach each day moving forward.”

Right. But was there a moment in not so distant past where there was a thing he could control but chose not to?

If heart conditions are normal in sportsmen, as we are told again and again, how about disseminated blood clots? Have you heard of such a thing ever before?

Here’s a “plausible” explanation:

There is even a “study” for that: “Heatstroke-induced coagulopathy: Biomarkers, mechanistic insights, and patient management” (The Lancet, 2022.01.22), yet they note that no such blood clot events occurred during the hot-hot-hot weather during the summer Tokyo Olympics of 2021:

Conclusions: Despite the hot summer, it was fortunate that the Tokyo Olympic Games held in midsummer 2021 ended without major medical complications; however, it is noteworthy that approximately 30% of the marathon runners withdrew during the race because of the intolerable heat.

For a fuller context, have a listen to this:

It gets “curiouser and curiouser”… At some point, The Great Wall of Silence should come crashing down. And this point seems to be nigh.

In other news:

Peru has been inundated by a mystery wave of a paralysis-causing illness, prompting officials to declare a national health emergency.

There have been 231 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) since the start of this year - more than half of which occurred in a narrow five-week span from early June to mid-July.

The WHO said: ‘To date, the potential cause of the unexpected GBS incidence remains under investigation.

Think harder, WHO?