coagulants, such as Romaine Lettuce.

Blood clotting is a natural process in which blood cells and fibrin strands rapidly form a clump to stop bleeding after a blood vessel has been injured. Eventually the clot will form a protective scab over a wounded blood vessel, allowing it to heal. If the body did not have the ability to form blood clots, people would bleed to death after even a minor cut. Sometimes, however, blood clots form even when a person has not been injured. Although most blood clots tend to dissolve on their own with no long-term problems, there are situations in which blood clots can cause medical problems. Blood clots become dangerous when they block blood flow through an artery or vein. This has some good info: http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/blood-clots.html

Platelets. Platelets are only about 20% of the diameter of red blood cells, the most numerous cell of the blood. The normal platelet count is 150,000-350,000 per microliter of blood, but since platelets are so small, they make up just a tiny fraction of the blood volume. The principal function of platelets is to prevent bleeding. Platelet Production Platelets are produced in the bone marrow, the same as the red cells and most of the white blood cells. Platelets are produced from very large bone marrow cells called megakaryocytes. As megakaryocytes develop into giant cells, they undergo a process of fragmentation that results in the release of over 1,000 platelets per megakaryocyte. The dominant hormone controlling megakaryocyte development is thrombopoietin (often abbreviated as TPO). Platelet Structure Platelets are actually not true cells but merely circulating fragments of cells. But even though platelets are merely cell fragments, they contain many structures that are critical to stop bleeding. They contain proteins on their surface that allow them to stick to breaks in the blood vessel wall and also to stick to each other. They contain granules that can secrete other proteins required for creating a firm plug to seal blood vessel breaks. Also platelets contain proteins similar to muscle proteins that allow them to change shape when they become sticky. http://w3.ouhsc.edu/platelets/Platelets/platelets%20intro.html

The clumping together of blood cells and fibrin.

The causes of blood clots differ depending on if they occur in the artery (which takes blood away from the heart) or the vein (which takes blood back to the legs). When a blood clot occurs in an artery, it is typically related to atherosclerosis (build up of plaque on the artery walls), resulting in the formation of a platelet-rich clot. When the clot grows and expands to block the circulation to the heart or brain, a heart attack or stroke occurs. Blood clots that occur in the veins typically result from one of three factors (referred to as Virchow’s triad): stasis, injury, or changes in blood chemistry. Stasis, or stagnant blood flow may lead to coagulation (sticking together) of proteins in the blood, resulting in a blood clot in the vein (called venous thrombosis). Changes to the integrity of the blood vessel, which may occur with injury or trauma, may also lead to formation of blood clots in the veins. When a blood vessel is damaged, platelets are exposed to certain vessel wall proteins that cause them to become sticky and clump together at the site of the injury. The platelets then attract other plasma proteins and a firm fibrin clot is formed to stop the flow of blood. This is the body's normal response to an injury. It is a necessary function to prevent a person from losing too much blood. Most blood clots are reabsorbed back into the circulation when the blood vessel wall has healed. Blood clots, however, can be potentially dangerous if they occur within intact blood vessels, or if they do not dissolve when their work is done. A deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which often occurs in the leg veins, can lead to pain, tenderness and skin ulceration (called post-thrombotic syndrome). If not diagnosed and treated, DVT may progress to a pulmonary embolism, which may be fatal. Finally, abnormalities in the blood clotting system, also called hypercoagulability, may cause venous thrombosis. These abnormalities can be inherited and are referred to as thrombophilias (i.e. clot loving). Things like estrogen can also lead to hypercoagulability. You may want to check out the website of the National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia (NATT) website at www.stoptheclot.org. They have a lot of information and host seminars to educate people about blood clots and clotting disorders.