HEALTH: The flight mode on which you must pass

DVT can be dangerous

Soon it will be summer and many of us will be driving or traveling long distances to go on vacation. The problem is that while traveling, you are still and you risk developing a blood clot in the leg called Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).

David, 61, pbadionate about cycling, fit, active and healthy, aside from occasional asthma, came back from a stay involving a series of long distance trips. Having worn stockings in the plane and staying well hydrated, he badumed that when he started to run out of breath in the following weeks, it was only his asthma. A few weeks later, he woke up to find a painful and slightly swollen calf, but attributed it to an old Achilles tendon injury. It had been a month since I had traveled, so he told the doctor that he had not taken a long-haul flight recently.

DVT can be dangerous – the clot can break and move around the body, blocking the blood in your lungs, called pulmonary embolism.

Within days, David was admitted urgently to the hospital with severe chest pain and breathing difficulties. He was diagnosed with DVT and blood clots in his lungs. Fortunately, he was given anticoagulants immediately, and has been fine ever since, but David's story is not unusual. Even 90 minutes of sitting are enough to halve the blood flow behind the knees. It is therefore not surprising that prolonged sitting puts you at risk for DVT when blood flow is slow enough to form a clot. This can cause pain and swelling in the back of the leg over the following days or weeks, although there may be no symptoms.

Beverley Hunt, medical director of Thrombosis UK, said: "Although PST has attracted a lot of media attention, the risk for a healthy person is probably less than one in 10,000 long-haul journeys. you do not need to be too worried. However, she says there is "an increased risk in people with" sticky blood ", called thrombophilia. This may be due to illness, hereditary problems or taking the combined contraceptive pill. You are also at higher risk if you are obese, if you are taking hormone replacement therapy, if you are pregnant or have had a baby recently.

Thrombosis UK offers this advice for long-haul flights:

• Exercise your calf muscles regularly by contracting and moving them.
• Do not drink too much alcohol as it dehydrates you.
• If you wear special medical socks, make sure they are snug, otherwise they can cause more damage.
• Avoid sleeping pills because you could sleep in an uncomfortable position and move less.
• Drink a lot of water.

Professor Hunt added, "In the unlikely event that you develop symptoms such as leg pain and swelling, unexpected shortness of breath, or chest pain, you should immediately see a doctor."

For more information, visit thrombosisuk.org/what-is-dvt.php.

We can be heroes

To donate blood, visit blood.co.uk

Although a quarter of us need a blood transfusion or blood products at some point, the number of new blood donors in the UK has decreased by more than 40% at during the last decade. This led to a crisis to provide the much needed 1.6 million pints a year.

We need more blood donors. But we also count on a team of volunteers from the Nationwide Association of Blood Bikes, on duty day and night, ready to jump on their bikes to collect urgent stocks of blood that will save lives and send them to hospitals and ambulances for emergency use across the UK.

This service was set up after an injured motorcyclist in need of a transfusion was transported to a hospital without a blood group. Her friend, who had followed the ambulance, volunteered to pick her up at the nearest hospital. There is now a network of more than 3,000 volunteers performing no less than 70,000 "blood races" per year.

To donate blood, visit blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23. To ship, visit bloodbikes.org.uk.

If you have a question that you would like answered, send an email to [email protected]. Clare reads all your emails but regrets not being able to answer them personally.