Whether your holiday plans involve a romantic getaway in a distant place or simply a summer visit with the grandchildren, there is a good chance that a plane will be involved.
For the most part, planes are a great way to proceed, say health experts.
“Overall, this is a very safe mode of transport,” said Dr. Leigh Speicher, a specialist in aerospace medicine who is president of the Medical Association Civil Aviation.
But commercial aircraft trips are delivered with health baggage. Problems range from simple stress to “complex physiological changes occurring within the framework of air trips that can affect the heart, blood vessels and axis at the heart of the brain,” said Dr. Laurence Sperling, Professor Katz in preventive cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Here is what doctors say you can do to stay healthy before being authorized for departure.
Do you be wary of air?
In the Jet-Voyage hymn “Come Fly with me”, Frank Sinatra sang once you are up there, where the air is rarefied, you can simply slide, with star eyes. But this rarefied air can make a health challenge for some.
On commercial flights, the cabin air is generally under pressure at the equivalent of around 6,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level, according to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is roughly the elevation of Estes Park, Colorado or Mount Olympus in Washington, and this means that passengers inhale less oxygen than they could normally.
This pressure air can also be dry – approximately 5% to 25% relative humidity, according to a research review published in Clinical Cardiology in 2017 on the cardiovascular effects of Air Travel. Sperling, a preventive cardiologist who founded the center of Emory for the prevention of heart disease, was the main author of this review.
Speicher, who started piloting planes in adolescence, said that most healthy people will breathe the cabin. But the CDC says that the lower pressure can exacerbate problems for people with anemia, underlying pulmonary problems, cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke or other conditions that require additional oxygen. The clinical cardiology review adds heart disease and heart failure, where the heart cannot pump effectively.
If you have worries about whether it is sure for you to fly, ask a doctor, said Speicher. “Your best resource to talk to is your own primary care provider. Or, if you have had a recent heart attack or a stroke, it could be the specialist who takes care of you.”
The lower air pressure in the cabin also expands the gas trapped inside the body. This can affect a person who has undergone surgery in the last 10 days, said the review of clinical cardiology.
Air expansion inside the body can also cause abdominal pain, sinus pain or a “plane ear,” said Speicher. The CDC claims that decongestants can help the symptoms of the ear and sinuses. But because decongestants can increase blood pressure, they must be used for the shortest possible or avoided duration in people with serious or uncontrolled blood pressure, according to the directives of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
Steering wheel
Low humidity inside an aircraft can cause problems such as dry or cough, said Speicher. To combat dehydration, it recommends traveling with your own water bottle, which you can fill once you erase the safety of the airport. Be careful with caffeine and alcohol, she said, which can both be dehydrating.
The air aboard modern aircraft is filtered and cleaner than most of our houses and buildings in which we are, “said Speicher. Thus, with regard to viruses and bacteria suspended in the air,” it is not as if you were exposed to everyone throughout the plane. “
But you can always be exposed to the germs of the people around you, she said, and if you are sick, you can also exhibit them.
“I am not to the point where I would say:” everyone needs to wear a mask for each flight “”, she said. But in case you find yourself next to someone who coughs and does not wear a mask himself, “I think it’s nice to have one on hand.”
Risks of blood clotting
The long periods of immobility that accompany trips by plane can raise the risk of deep venous thrombosis – clots that start in large veins, often in one leg. If a clot moving towards the lungs, it can be fatal.
These clots are rare, but Speicher and Sperling both recommend using compression socks on longer flights.
Stay well hydrated, said sperling, and continue to pour the blood by not crossing your legs and bending your leg muscles in a seated position, or “get up and walk in the aisle”.
But don’t stroll. Turbulence can strike without warning, said Speicher. So when you’re sitting, complete, she said. “It will save you from the injury.”
Stressful? Yes
Plane trips can be frustrating, to say it slightly. “This is a very stressful period for some people,” said Speicher. And this can affect mental health.
So “pack your patience,” she said. Try to understand your passenger colleagues and listen to the instructions given to you. “The cabin crew and the pilots are trying to do their job. They try to bring everyone safely.”
Nervous leaflets should “do the things that help you stay calm in regular life”, such as deep breathing, meditation or listening to music, said Speicher. “Travel with someone you center and help you feel safe.”
Also avoid alcohol, she said. In addition to being dehydrating, he “can worsen all the current problems, instead of calming things”.
Pre-Vol Preparation
Sperling, who was receiving several “Is there a doctor on board?” The calls to help people when he steals, said the importance of checking with your health care team to make sure you are ready to fly.
“The physical stress of plane travel should not be underestimated,” he said. “For many people, it can be the most important stress test they have passed in days, weeks, months or this year.” You need efforts to transport luggage through the airport or even queu. “It is therefore not uncommon for people to unmask certain underlying health problems because they sail in the stress of plane trips.”
If you are authorized to fly, said Sperling, plan to follow your regular medicines. Keep them in your hand luggage.
“It is really useful for a person to have a list of their drugs, just to be able to share with anyone who tries to help,” he said.
People with heart rate disorders should transport a copy of a basic electrocardiogram reading – you can take a photo and store it on your phone, said Sperling. People with implanted devices such as heart stimulators or defibrillators should take the card of the aircraft with them.
Travelers abroad must ensure that they are up to date on vaccinations. Many hospitals have travel specialists that can help.
Also keep in mind basic needs, said Speicher. “I recommend having snacks or food with you in case of delay.”
Do not skimp on sleep
Travel can interfere with sleep, which is considered essential for heart health.
Adaptation to a new time zone is the most delicate when you travel east, said Speicher. “You just stay a little later when you travel to the west.” His simplest advice is to expose yourself to light in the middle of the morning to reset the internal clock of your body when you travel east.
“It’s great to sleep where you can,” she said. But be careful with alcohol, which could make you sleep but can interfere with it to be asleep.
Sperling warned against any type of sleep assistance or anti-annual drugs that you do not take regularly. “Get your routine,” he suggested. If your normal bedtime routine involves reading a book, try the same while you travel.
Have fun
“Plane trips are important for people to see the people they love, their families, their friends, to discover new places and a new beauty on this planet,” said Sperling.
Thus, while putting the work required by the flight, do not lose sight of its awards.
“We must be aware of the risks,” said Sperling. “We must also be aware of joy.”
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The news of the American Heart Association covers the health of the heart and the brain. All the opinions expressed in this story do not reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is held or owned by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved.
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