BLOOD CLOT WHILE FLYING: DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS DVT and PULMONARY EMBOLISM THE LITANY OF AIRPLANE PASSENGER WOES GROWS: HIDDEN DANGER LONG FLIGHTS

BLOOD CLOT WHILE FLYING: DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS DVT and PULMONARY EMBOLISM THE LITANY OF AIRPLANE PASSENGER WOES GROWS: HIDDEN DANGER OF LONG FLIGHT

ECONOMY CLASS SYNDROME Long Airplane Flights and the Reports of Blood Clots

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Economy Class Syndrome and Sitting Long Hours on an Airplane

You are sitting on a crowded airplane stuffed like sardines in a flying sardine can perhaps wedged between two other "happy" travelers. Flight delays, security hassles,obnoxious passengers. You think what else can happen? How about a DVT causing a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in your lungs? But there are many things besides prolonged immobilization that can possibly predispose to the formation of a blood clot. They are called deep vein thrombosis because they tend to occur in the deep veins that run deep inside the legs (although DVT also comes from elsewhere such as the pelvis) versus the more superficial veins that you can see on the outside of your legs, called logically the superficial veins. Just when you thought it was safe to fly the not so friendly skies, yet another headache is added to the litany of airline traffic woes!













A post here recently talked about the so called Economy Class Syndrome. People who sit on airplanes in one position for too long are at increased risk of developing blood clots. An article in the New York Times talked about it.




Most business travelers have heard about the outwardly healthy 28-year-old British woman who collapsed and died shortly after getting off a 20-hour flight from Australia to London two years ago. They also probably know she died of a blood clot that formed in her leg and traveled to her lung -- most likely a result of prolonged sitting in cramped quarters.Yet do most air travelers know the best way to avoid her fate is to stretch and walk around the cabin regularly to get the blood pumping?" "In the last year, a flurry of lawsuits has been filed around the world, contending ..failure on the part of air carriers to inform passengers adequately about the malady, known as deep vein thrombosis"








What do former wrestler a.k.a Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, Olympic ice skater Tara Lipinski and one in 5000 airline passengers have in common? The answer? They have already had or will get a blood clot. Not only do people have a fear of flying they also have a fear of flying and developing a blood clot. The phenomenon of developing a blood clot while flying has been labeled "Economy Class Syndrome". It has been associated with sitting in one position for a long time. Remember TV Correspondent David Bloom who was said to have succumbed to a blood clot while covering the Iraq War? Even the people huddled in the Underground during the Blitz of London suffered from increased blood clots.

BUSINESS TRAVEL; Hidden Danger of Long-Haul Flying, or Sitting



The Internet medical journal PLOS Medicine had a study of Economy Class Syndrome. They calculated that for the under 40 group that they studied the risk of a blood clot was 1 in 5000. But they suspected it would be higher in the general population.

They figured that THINGS THAT IMPACTED BLOOD CLOT RISK INCLUDED

1.Long haul flights tripled the risk of developing VT (blood clot) and

2.The absolute risk (the probability of something occurring in a certain time period) of a blood clot occurring shortly after such travel was one event per 4,656 flights.

3.The risk of blood clot was increased by exposure to more flights during a short period and to longer flights

4.Was greatest in the first two weeks after a flight

5.The risk of a blood clot was particularly high in young employees, women taking oral contraceptives, and people who were short, tall or overweight.

See SYMPTOMS AND TESTS FOR DVT AND PULMONARY EMBOLISM

The Absolute Risk of Venous Thrombosis after Air Travel: A Cohort Study of 8,755 Employees of International Organisations

Probably one of the most important things you can do is to walk around during the flight. Not to sit in one position for long periods of time. Prolonged immobilization is one of the risk factors for a blood clot.






There have been many stories in the press about blood clots while flying in an airplane. For example Dangerous In-Flight Blood Clots and Cramped Flights Fatal Blood Clots and also the story of a woman who had a blood clot after a transatlantic airplane flight and a rugby player who says he got a blood clot after a long flight from Australia.

What is Deep Vein Thrombosis

Tara Lipinski, the Olympic figure ice skater, was shocked she said, when she developed a blood clot after surgery Lipinski Glides Past Surgery Complications . A clot in the superficial veins is called phlebitis. Here is a diagram of the deep veins of the leg