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Blood clots risk 'for any journey over four hours' By Babette Pain and David Derbyshire

HOLIDAYMAKERS travelling from Britain to destinations as close as Greece, Turkey or the Canary Islands are at risk of developing a fatal blood clot, researchers have found.

One in four people who go to hospital with a deep vein thrombosis has gone on a journey of four hours or more within the previous month, a French study has shown. But researchers also found that clot dangers were not limited to flying and that long trips by train and car may be as risky.

Links between travel and blood clots are highlighted in a second study which found that the rise in the number of such clots over the past 10 years mirrors the growing popularity of long distance flights. Doctors are increasingly concerned about "travellers' thrombosis", a condition once known as economy class syndrome but now thought to be linked to all types of travel.

Last month, a World Health Organisation meeting of scientists, aviation experts and airlines launched an investigation into the health risks of flying. French research suggests that other forms of transport should also be included in the inquiry.

Dr Emile Ferrari, a heart expert at the Pasteur Hospital in Nice, looked at the links between ill health and travel in 160 patients with clots and 160 heart patients with another type of blood problem. A quarter of the clot patients had been on a journey of at least four hours, the travelling time from Britain to some European sunspots, during the previous month. There were four times more travellers within the clot group than among the non-clot patients.

Among the 39 travellers who suffered from a deep vein thrombosis or other type of blood clot, 28 went by car, nine by plane and two by train. Dr Ferrari said: "Our data showed that a journey of more than four hours is a risk factor for venous thrombosis and therefore pulmonary embolism or blood clots in the lungs, whatever the means of transport."

Although the study did not compare the risks of different transport, Dr Ferrari believes the risks of road journeys may have been overlooked. Dr Ferrari said: "My gut feeling is that if I had to travel 3,000 miles, I would prefer to do it by plane rather than by car. I would think the risk of deep vein thrombosis for the same distance is much lower by plane."

A second study by Dr Michel Clerel, chief of the medical department for Paris Airports, looked at pulmonary embolisms among air passengers arriving at Paris. Between 1990 and 2000, there were 109 proven cases of pulmonary embolism while there were 29 cases and four deaths last year alone.

The biggest risk factor was the length of travel, with 95 per cent of the patients coming off flights that had lasted at least six hours. Although only a third of passengers were women, 55 per cent of lung clot patients were female.

Women could be more at risk because the contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy are known to increase the dangers. Average age of sufferers was 57 years while the average age of a traveller over the same period was 38.

Dr Clerel, who has reported some of his findings in The Lancet, said: "We insist on safe and easy physical measures such as movement during flights and regular deep breathing, ample hydration, avoidance of smoking and alcohol. Medical measures, such as compression stockings or aspirin, are still disputed but we think they should be used for high risk patients."

Deep vein thrombosis is thought to be linked to sitting still for long periods. Normally, calf muscles help to pump blood around the body. But if they are immobile, blood in the lower legs becomes sticky, increasing the chances of a clot that could pass to the heart or lungs.

Some doctors recommend half an aspirin before a flight if travellers are not allergic to the drug. Clot risks can be reduced by exercise during a flight, drinking water, avoiding alcohol, wearing loose clothing and wearing a compression stocking.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2001

Answers

Doesn't sound good for us truck drivers. Wonder if we can raise rates because of health concerns? LOL

Dennis

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Probably much more room in a truck cab than there is in today's airplane seat areas, Dennis!

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001