Regarding air travel–related venous thromboembolism (ATVT), it is important for air travellers to recognise their risk factors for air travel prior them departing. It all starts around your ticket booking at home or at the office and importantly, giving yourself enough time to prepare and prevent your potential ATVT blood clot. It’s all about prevention and “Flying healthier for longer“.

These factors include your personal internal risk factors (age more than 60 years, overweight, previous VTE (blood clot), recent surgery/hospitalisation/injury, pregnancy/postpartum, malignancy, cardiorespiratory diseases, thrombophilia, varicose veins, other chronic diseases, etc) and cabin related external risk factors (immobilisation, coach position, low air pressure, relative hypoxia, dehydration).

To shed more light on ATVT the WRIGHT project (WHO Research Initiative on Global Hazards of Travel) was created and importantly after its origination concluded that air travel is associated with an increased risk of VTE.

This increased risk applies to other forms of travel where travellers spend long periods seated and immobilised. Obesity, height, use of contraceptives/HRT, and the presence of prothrombotic/clotting abnormalities increase the risk. The results of the WRIGHT project suggest that over 150 000 of two billion air passengers per year will develop ATVT, of whom 7500 will suffer fatal PE. For this reason it is essential that the prevention study proposed for phase II of the WRIGHT project is carried out and that future passengers are adequately informed about their risk and the optimal mode of prevention.

Collaboration consensus around prevention around cabin-related risk factors can be remedied by drinking plenty of nonalcoholic fluids, moving feet and legs and taking deep breaths several times every hour while passenger-related risk factors that can trigger any of the factors in the physiological described Virchow’s triad and incorporates intravascular vessel wall damage, stasis of flow, and the presence of a hypercoagulable state.

Flying Health Program www.flyinghealthprogram.com looks to consolidate pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight awareness, primary health and solution strategy’s to help travellers integrate better preventative health wellness into their everyday commercial flying plans and thus helping users maximise their travel experiences.