My name is Dr. Lisa K. Moores, and I am board certified in critical care medicine, pulmonary disease and internal medicine and have worked on guidelines to help improve venous thromboembolism (VTE) patient care. I’m also the President-Elect of the CHEST Foundation, the philanthropic foundation of the American College of Chest Physicians, an organization representing 19,000+ clinicians practicing pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. I co-authored the American College of Chest Physician’s guidelines Antithrombotic Therapy for VTE Disease: CHEST Guideline and Expert Panel Report in February 2016 and have been on the frontlines of VTE research for over a decade. AMA! March is Blood Clot Awareness Month, and it is important to shed light on a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. A VTE, is a blood clot that forms in a vein deep inside the body that blocks important blood flow. VTE includes both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), conditions that affect an estimated 350,000 to 600,000 Americans each year. You might’ve heard the now debunked term ‘economy class syndrome’, a phenomenon that linked the formation of blood clots in veins with sitting in economy class for a long airplane flight and wondered, “Does this really exist?” No need to buy first-class only…it’s a myth! Because of the many misconceptions on VTE, I have worked alongside the American College of Chest Physicians to release evidence-based guidelines, Antithrombotic Therapy for VTE Disease: CHEST Guideline and Expert Panel Report, that provides 53 updated recommendations for appropriate treatment of patients with VTE. VTE typically forms in the legs of individuals and can be caused by everyday things as simple as sitting for a long period of time. Other risk factors for a VTE include: estrogen use (including birth control), obesity, recent injury or surgery, cancer, blood-clotting disorders and smoking. Because it can affect almost anyone it is important to me to provide information for proper treatment and care. Please feel free to ask about anything related to VTE, DVT, PE or pulmonary medicine. I will return at 2:30 p.m. EST to answer your questions. Ask me anything! Conflict of Interest Disclosure: My thoughts and opinions are my own. They are not official opinions of the Uniformed Services University, the United States Army or the Department of Defense.