Travel Well

Travel to some parts of the world has always been a bit risky – most often because of the possibility of contracting some infectious disease – such as cholera, typhoid, the various forms of hepatitis and the increasing risk of malaria.

Of course there is also simple "traveler's’ diarrhoea" - a condition almost all of us will have suffered at some time. We don’t have to travel too far to end up needing to stay close to the bathroom. Montezuma doesn’t only take his revenge in Mexico. Bali belly is not confined to people enjoying Indonesian cooking. Upset tummies can become an inconvenience anywhere away from home.

However, over the last year or so, the most commonly discussed condition affecting travelers is the so-called "economy class syndrome". There is still great ignorance about the condition and the term itself is seriously misleading, according to a report released recently by the House of Lords in Britain. "Travelers’ thrombosis" or "flight related DVT" are both more appropriate stated the report from the Parliament’s Select Committee on Science and Technology.

DVT or deep venous thrombosis is said to occur when a blood clot forms in the deep veins of the calf or thigh usually after a period of being immobile. Typically, this can happen if precautions are not taken when recuperating after surgery or illness.

Whether DVT is more likely to occur following plane travel is still a matter yet to be resolved. That is, it hasn’t yet been proven that frequent flyers are at greater risk of DVT than frequent car or train travelers, or even those of us who sit still in front of TV for hours on end. Indeed one study carried out in the Netherlands and published in the medical journal "The Lancet" last year showed there was no increased risk. Clearly, more research is necessary.

Nevertheless, we do know already of certain general risk factors that definitely increase our chance of having a DVT. These factors include being aged over 40, taking the contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy or being pregnant. Other factors likely to increase the risk are smoking and consuming excessive amounts of alcohol or caffeine-containing drinks. The most significant risk factor, however, is being immobile – not moving around.

What is yet to be determined is whether the environment of an aircraft, with low humidity, low air pressure and possibly less oxygen in the atmosphere, will lead to an even greater tendency to blood clots.

In any event, there are some simple self care procedures we can put in place which will help reduce our risk of DVT: moving around the cabin when possible or at least exercising the calf muscles and drinking non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic drinks when thirsty.

For people at greater risk to begin with, the wearing of compression or support stockings is helpful or perhaps taking low dose aspirin (for its anti-clotting effect) starting a week or so before travelling. Your doctor or your pharmacist can give you more advice about these products.