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Elizabeth Holmes airs her
concerns about cramped, bug ridden air flights
 I have decided I don't like
flying. Not long distances at least. It's not just the jetlag,
although that's challenging enough, but the actual time spent
on the plane.
On a recent flight to Detroit,
my heart plummeted to new depths of despair as I boarded the
shabby DC10 and saw the trial ahead of me; seven hours in the
middle of a row of five - two passengers either side of me.
Until that point, I had never known claustrophobia, which was
to be heightened dramatically by an announcement on take-off
with Concorde firmly fixed in my mind, that the first film to
be shown was to be Gone in 60 Seconds. Not a fair choice of
title I thought.
It wouldn't be so bad if it
could be possible to cocoon yourself from the emissions of
your fellow passengers, but when you're shoulder to shoulder
and thigh to thigh there's little chance of that. The only
option you have is to share the air with the sneezers, the
coughers and, what seems worse somehow, the vomiters.
Air quality on planes is a
major issue. As a cost-cutting exercise, airlines have
gradually been whittling away the fresh air they provide for
passengers and replacing it with around 50 per cent recycled
air although some airlines are more generous than others. Not
only is the air 'old', but the volume of air per passenger has
been reduced and there are dramatic variations among airlines.
On one, passengers can expect around 20 cubic feet of air per
minute while on another, only eight cubic feet per minute is
provided. In business class, currently costing at least
£3,000 for a flight to Detroit, you can expect 60 cubic feet
per minute while pilots can breathe easy with 150 cubic feet
per minute.
Recycled air poses many health
risks to passengers. Not only does the common cold have
sitting targets and yes, I did succumb myself, but
gastroenteritis and tuberculosis have been known to spread on
planes with ease.
Farrol Kahn, director of the
Aviation Health Institute suggests that air passengers should
wear a respiratory flying mask for the duration of a flight.
These can stop around 98 per cent of the bugs that bombard the
body continually as air is inhaled, exhaled, recycled and
inhaled again.
Although air quality on planes
poses major health risks, the threat of developing a deep vein
thrombosis (DVT) is a larger, more sinister cloud hanging over
air travellers. Sudden unexpected death from this silent
killer seems to be on the increase and there is significant
anecdotal evidence to suggest that airlines are simply not
putting passengers first when it comes to disseminating
information on how to avoid this happening. And when it does
happen, cabin crews do not seem equipped to deal with the
situation, despite the fact that until airlines ensure they
have a doctor on board each flight, it is they who must take
action.
While flying back from the Far East earlier this year, my
brother, a musician, saw a good friend and work colleague die
from DVT. There was no one on board with the knowledge, means
and equipment to save her life. He spent the remainder of the
flight sitting with her body, which had been stretched out on
the seats in the back row of the plane.
Shocking and tragic though the
experience was, this is not a particularly rare occurrence on
long flights. DVTs are the result of the thickening of the
blood due to restricted circulation. Clots can then form which
may travel around the body, with fatalities occurring if the
clot reaches the heart, lungs or brain. One way of reducing
the risk of developing a DVT is to get out of your seat and
walk around the plane regularly throughout the flight. Some
chance of that when you're packed in as tightly as a slave
ship with no way out of your seat apart from, "excuse me,
wake up, excuse me, would you mind letting me out so that I
can exercise please?"!
Fluid loss on planes is another
factor that increases the risks of DVTs. At high altitude,
cabins have low humidity which has a dehydrating and so
blood-thickening effect on the body. Drinking plenty of water,
even sipping it continuously, is vital to ensure the body
remains hydrated. Why, then, do airlines ply passengers with
tea, coffee and alcohol - all diuretics that drain the body's
fluid levels?
Cosmic radiation is yet another
risk facing air passengers. A flight of around seven hours
gives the equivalent of about two X-rays of radiation, so
frequent flyers are at significant risk of being exposed to
dangerous levels. One way of helping to combat the impact of
this radiation is to take a good quality antioxidant before,
during and after the flight.
Yet there are other, perhaps
more pressing reasons why we should look again at our reliance
on air travel, not least that it is the world's fastest
growing source of greenhouse gases which, as we know too well
down here, cause climate change. According to Friends of the
Earth, a passenger taking a return flight from the UK to the
USA can produce as much carbon dioxide as a motorist driving
in the UK for a whole year. A humbling thought. Perhaps every
flight ticket really should carry a government health warning.
The Bugstopper mask costs £10
+ postage and is available from the Aviation Health Institute:
01865 739 681, www.aviation-health.org
Ginkgo Biloba has been shown to
be an effective preventative treatment for DVTs. It helps to
reduce the 'stickiness' of the blood therefore reducing the
risk of clotting.
Aspirin works in a similar way
as Ginkgo Biloba and taking one tablet before flying is a wise
precaution, although it seems that there is less chance of
experiencing an allergic reaction to Ginkgo Biloba than there
is to aspirin.
Insist on having a seat as near
to the front of the plane as possible. By the time the
recycled air reaches passengers at the back of the plane, the
passengers in the front rows who receive the air first will
already have further contaminated it.
Before booking a flight, ask
the airline direct questions about the health and safety of
passengers. For example, does it insist on ensuring a doctor
is on board each flight? What are the protocols for dealing
with a passenger with a DVT? Can an aisle seat be guaranteed
to aid circulation in your legs? What percentage of cabin air
is recycled? If airlines are forced by passengers to focus on
these issues, much needed improvements to health and safety on
board planes may at last happen, even if it does result in a
rise in ticket prices.
copyright New Insight 2000
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