Staying in rude good health while flying used to be such a simple matter. In 1946, when the ABC Air Guide, forerunner of today's OAG Executive Flight Guide, was launched, passengers were merely advised to swallow several times if they suffered from deafness due to a change in air pressure and to take precautions against malaria. Ten years previously, Lufthansa's in-flight handbook cautioned laconically: 'If on crossing the Alps you have a feeling of weariness, ask the operator to turn on the oxygen apparatus.' Fast forward and such scant advice would have today’s airlines and their passengers gasping for breath and reaching for the oxygen. In an age when personal trainers are laughing all the way to the bank and regular visits to the gym are seen as key to a healthy lifestyle, swers to the question of how to keep fit at 35,000ft would fill several volumes. The surge in airline interest in their passengers' well being was triggered by the relatively recent advent of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). A hitherto virtually unrecognised malady also known as Economy Class Syndrome, brought on by remaining inactive for long periods, it has had long-haul air travellers suffering from the condition beating a path to their lawyers' doors, and airlines engaging the keenest brains in the legal profession to deny liability. For the carriers, it all amounts to a most ingenious paradox in the best Gilbertian traditions. On the one hand, they go out of their way to encourage passengers to relax, welcoming those in Business and First Class with Champagne, providing entertainment at the fingertips, serving lavish and leisurely meals and unlimited quantities of alcohol, and generally creating an atmosphere verging on the soporific. On the other, haunted by the spectre of DVT, they must try to keep the traveller on the hop, many carriers issuing exercise programmes with tickets, at check-in and through dedicated pages of in-flight magazines – although amid the general advice, DVT is rarely mentioned by name. Singapore Airlines goes one better, creating a keep fit video that plays willy-nilly before every one of its 500 audio-visual entertainment options. But no airline can force travellers to heed its advice, and rather like smokers blaming the tobacco companies for ill health due to their addiction, those who have suffered from DVT after flying have engaged in similar class actions. So far, however, the airlines have won the day, arguing successfully in 2002 that deep vein thrombosis was not caused by an “unexpected or unusual event” external to the passenger, the definition of an accident as defined by the 1929 Warsaw Convention. In July this year, British Airways and Qantas successfully contested a case in the Australian High Court on similar grounds, and the UK House of Lords is due to rule on British litigants who were unable to prove their affliction to a lower court. A finding in their favour by the highest appeal body would open the way for action against 18 airlines, including BA, Qantas, Airtours International Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Continental Airlines. Whatever the outcome of the legal niceties keeping chambers topped up with Krug and latemodel Porsches, DVT is undeniably serious, a name given to a blood clot that forms in a vein, most commonly in the calf, due to inactivity for long periods. With the circulation sluggish, the clot can travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism and heart failure, the warning signs including fever, a sudden and unexplained cough, and joint pain and soreness. Not that such distressing symptoms are likely to affect many who fly. Recent statistics suggest that DVT can be the result of immobility on an extended journey by any means of transport, including rail and those by car. It affects around one person in every 2,000 in the general population, and usually there is a family history of blood clots, the sufferer has been treated for heart failure or circulation problems or has undergone recent surgery. Nevertheless, passengers shouldn't relax in the belief it won't happen to them. In fact, the experts don't want them sitting too comfortably. Recline the seat, they say, bend and straighten legs, toes and feet every half-hour while seated, walk around the cabin, and do upper body and breathing exercises. From here on in, the advice for keeping fit in flight applies to everyone, whether or not they have a suspect medical history: drink plenty of water, avoid a surplus of alcohol, which causes dehydration and immobility, and if possible don't take sleeping tablets which make for inertia and thus slower blood circulation. Much of which also helps to combat jet lag. In addition, passengers on long-haul flights should reset their watches to the time at the final destination and adjust to its daily rhythms. Stay awake during the flight for a daytime arrival, say the gurus of good flying practice, and don't sleep until its bedtime in the host city. Alternatively, if you are to touchdown after dark, eat before boarding, get some shuteye during the flight and head for bed once you get to your hotel. Such fulsome counselling comes on top of always seeking medical advice on recommended inoculations and precautions before you travel. Be warned: up to three million people a year die from malaria around the world – which puts the highly unlikely chance of going down with DVT into perspective. Combating DVT
When DVT was first identified as a possible risk of flying long haul, one captain had to turn on the “fasten seat belts” sign to persuade exercising passengers blocking the aisles to return to their seats. It is just as easy to exercise sitting down, says WHO, which advises:
- Move feet up and down to simulate walking
- Contract buttocks and abdominal muscles to stimulate pelvic circulation
- Stretch arms and lift them up and down
- Open and clench fists
- Rotate the ankle joints in large circles, extending them fully
| 
|
