Hemorrhoids occur pretty far from the heart. So, you’d probably think of it as quite a long shot to make a connection there.
But a new study published in the journal Advances in Rheumatology draws this unlikely connection. It also reveals a shocking discovery that may lead to a complete cure for hemorrhoids.
Antiphospholipid syndrome is a disease in which your immune system mistakenly makes antibodies that cause your blood to clot. It can cause blood clots in your legs, kidneys, lungs, and brain, many of which are fatal or severely disabling.
This is obviously a big problem that is not too common, but since this study may also apply to other people who are vulnerable to blood clotting, it is important.
Hemorrhoids are essentially blood vessels inside the rectum or outside the anus that become enlarged, often with blood clots, so you can see why researchers might wonder whether a blood clotting disease can cause hemorrhoids.
They found 41 people with antiphospholipid syndrome, examined them for hemorrhoids, and collected a verbal history from them concerning their history of hemorrhoids. All of the subjects were women between the ages of 36 and 49.
The scientists diagnosed 17 (41.4%) of them with hemorrhoid disease. This means that people with antiphospholipid syndrome are ten times more likely to suffer from hemorrhoids than the general public, where the prevalence is only 4.4%.
But more importantly, you can still do something about your hemorrhoid.
For example, constipation remained an extremely strong risk factor for hemorrhoids. Those with constipation were 3.92 times more likely than the others to have hemorrhoids.