Although plane travel is on the rise because of the availability of cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages, travelers at risk to develop in flight blood clots during long flights should avoid sitting in window seats.
New guidelines from a leading physicians group suggest the proximity a passenger has to the aisle might impact his or her risk of developing deep venous thromboses (DVTs) on long haul flights.
Their study concluded that where passengers sit (i.e. economy vs. First Class) does not contribute to the likelihood of acquiring DVTs but how much passengers move around is critical. They found passengers seated in window seats are often more willing to sit for long periods of time being uncomfortable because they are reluctant to make others move to let them out.
DVTs are blood clots that usually are found in legs. They can become particularly dangerous if they travel through the bloodstream to the lungs where they can become potentially deadly pulmonary embolisms.
Sitting on a long flight, being immobile, increases DVT risk. Healthy persons do not have to worry about DVT even on lengthy flights because the odds of acquiring it are significantly less than one in a thousand.
The risk of DVTs are much more serious for people who have had a clot before, an abnormality of their coagulation system, disability that affects mobility, are obese, or have active cancer. Passengers who are elderly, pregnant, take supplementary estrogen (including oral contraceptives) or recently underwent surgery and/or trauma are also at a higher than normal risk for DVT.
Nevertheless all passengers on flights lasting six or more hours should move around frequently and stretch their calf muscles. The same advice applies to people taking long car trips. www.cheapfares.com