He said anyone who will be sitting in a plane for hours should take precautions
Dr Amir Khan explained the risks on the No Appointment Necessary podcast(Image: Youtube)
Dr Amir Khan has urged all Brits who are about to jet off on their summer holidays to follow his advice. It revolves around how to stay healthy when on a plane, and specifically how to avoid blood clots.
The NHS warns that anyone for travelling for four hours or more – whether that is by air, car, bus, or train – is at risk of blood clots forming. Also known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), it happens when blood flow slows down, a blood vessel gets hurt, or your blood clots too easily.
The danger comes when a DVT breaks off and becomes lodged in your lungs, causing a blockage. This is known as a pulmonary embolism (PE), and it can be fatal.
But there are things you can do to mitigate the risk, as Dr Khan explained to co-host Cherry Healey on the No Appointment Necessary podcast. He said: “People worry about blood clots on flights, right? So you want to reduce your risk of that happening.
“Every one to two hours you should be getting up or having a little wander up and down the plane, or doing your calf movements where you’re stepping up and down on the seat—you know, while you’re sitting down. The one thing you don’t need, some people go, ‘Oh, I’m going to have some aspirin before I fly because it’ll reduce my (risk of DVT)’.
“There is no evidence it reduces your risk of a blood clot, but there is plenty of evidence it increases your risk of bleeding. So do not take aspirin if it’s not prescribed for you or not recommended to you. Don’t take it as a ‘just in case I get a blood clot’ kind of medication. It doesn’t do that.
“And then, the other big thing, what blood loves is lots of volume and fluid, so drink water. Drink lots of water on that flight.”
DVT and PE explained
According to the NHS, symptoms of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in the leg include:
- throbbing pain in 1 leg (rarely both legs), usually in the calf or thigh
- swelling in 1 leg (rarely both legs)
- red, blue or darkened skin around the painful area – this may be harder to see on brown or black skin
- swollen veins
Many people associate DVT symptoms showing only in your legs, but they can also happen in your arm depending on where the clot is. “Sometimes the only symptom you may have is pain in your lower tummy. This is a symptom of pelvic vein thrombosis, but this is rare,” it continues.
Anyone with suspected DVT should ask for an urgent GP appointment or ring 111. If you’re pregnant you can also call an early pregnancy unit (if you’re less than 20 weeks) or your maternity unit, if you have the phone number.
You should go to A&E or call 999 if you have DVT symptoms and feel shortness of breath and/or have chest pain. You should not drive yourself.
Symptoms of a pulmonary embolism include:
- difficulty breathing that comes on suddenly
- chest pain that’s worse when you breathe in
- coughing up blood
You should go to A&E or call 999 if:
- you have severe difficulty breathing
- you feel pain in your chest or upper back
- your heart is beating very fast
- someone has passed out
Treatment
Often, people who may have DVT or PE are given an injection of anticoagulant to stop the clot becoming larger and prevent any new clots forming.
If tests confirm you have a pulmonary embolism, you will continue with anticoagulant injections for at least five days. You will also need to take anticoagulant tablets for at least three months. Treatment and recovery is normally successful, provided DVY and PE are spotted and treated early on.
To prevent it, the NHS urges people to wear loose-fitting clothing, sit comfortably with plenty of leg room, and drink lots of water. People should also stand up regularly, move your feet and toes regularly, wear flight socks, and press the balls of your feet down hard against the floor every so often.
Other threats to health
Dr Khan also issued another warning. He said that, due to the large numbers of people flying and the places planes go, there was the risk of lots of harmful bacteria on a plane.
He urged people to take appropriate steps to minimise the risk of catching a bug on a plane. He said: “When people are on planes, A) they might have been travelling from somewhere where bacteria that you’re not used to are, but B) not everybody washes their hands when they go to the toilet, and we know this, and it’s gross.
“And so they’ll be touching all the things that, you know, that little twisty thing for your tray table and all of that stuff. And if you’re touching it and then you’re eating something—which is usually why you put the table down, right?—then you could get the bacteria introduced. So I would say, yes, hand sanitiser, and do have a little alcohol wipe down.”