This is a real-time picture of what a blood clot, or as the medical world calls it, a thrombus, looks like up close and personal. Thrombocytes are believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and in the vascular obstruction that causes the acute complications of coronary artery disease (CAD). Specific 
emotional states appear to be related to the platelet cascade activation. When an individual is under a stressful condition, their body releases norepinephrine and epinephrine. This causes the blood pressure to rise, heartrate to increase and stimulation of thrombocyte secretion. This is part of the reason why heart patients are advised to avoid becoming overly angry or excessively stressed; these emotional states predispose heart patients to acute cardiovascular ischemia, a lack of oxygen to the heart due to clogging of arteries. What we choose to focus on each second, expands. The emotional states of anger and stress are self-limited and created by ones own mind, therefore it is possible to replace these feelings with more abundant and positive emotions. Consciously choosing to see the silver lining in every situation, has been shown to reduce stress and inherently decrease risk of developing such conditions. It is incredible how far a little bit of optimism can go!
Written by: Student Doctor Navpreet Singh Badesha
These studies were published in journal literature at the American Heart Association.
Levine SP, Towell BL, Suarez AM. Platelet activation & secretion associated with emotional stress. 1985; 71 : 1129-1134.
