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Most people have heard of the potentially serious condition of venous thromboembolism (VTE), whose two most common manifestations are deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. When associated with travel, VTE is often referred to as "Economy Class Syndrome." On June 29, 2007, the World Health Organization released results from its phase 1 WRIGHT (WHO Research Into Global Hazards of Travel) project. What did they find? • Risk for developing VTE
doubles after travel lasting four hours or more.
Indeed, plane, train, bus, or automobile passengers
are at a higher risk of VTE when they remain seated
or immobile for journeys of four hours or more.
• Those who take multiple
trips over a short period are also at risk, because
"… the risk of VTE does not go away completely
after a flight is over, and the risk remains elevated
for about four weeks."
• Other risk factors for
VTE include: obesity, being very tall or very short
(taller than 1.9 meters, or 6' 2"; shorter than 1.6
meters, or 5' 3"), use of oral contraceptives, and
inherited blood disorders that lead to increased
clotting tendency.
• In healthy individuals,
the absolute risk of VTE in a more than four-hour
trip is about 1 in 6,000.
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