Flying fit and frequently
Orville and Wilbur Wright, the first frequent fliers, brought us the airplane exactly one century ago. What these pioneers did not have to reckon with back in 1903 are the swollen feet, popping ears, runny noses, and dry skin that beset the million-plus travelers who now take to the skies every day. Flying is no walk in the park. Strapped in and soaring to high altitudes, we become immobile creatures crouched into little narrow seats in a sea of strangers defying nature en masse. Flying above the clouds is a beautiful sight if you are lucky to get a window, but at 35,000 feet above sea level you are only conscious and warm because of the artificial environment of the airplane.
The typical cabin is pressurized to 8,000 feet, the equivalent of standing on an 8,000-foot peak in the Rockies, at the edge of symptoms of high-altitude illness. Oxygen is reduced about 30 percent, causing heart rates and breathing to speed up. This becomes a worry only if you have severe respiratory or heart disease. Some attribute to life in thin cabin air the headaches, fatigue, and even sleeping problems that rapidly disappear on landing, though this has never been proved.
Maybe that thin air also explains those cranky business fliers, especially when they are around cranky babies. Have some sympathy. Those little troupers who cry so hard on takeoff and landing are probably in severe ear pain. With their immature eustachian tubes--the air passages from the middle ear to the throat, which equalize air pressure on either side of the eardrum--changing altitude is a struggle. For most grown-ups such changes amount to annoying ear stuffiness, usually cleared with one good yawn.
In flight, as in most things, how long you do something matters. Short flights pose more hassles than they do health risks. But as time in the air lengthens, two health risks start to rise: deep vein thrombosis and catching colds. The good news is you can go a long way toward minimizing both of them.
Sitting ducks. The human body was made to move; the longer it stagnates, the weirder things get--like clots forming in the deep veins of the legs. A prior leg injury, a little extra weight, smoking--all increase risk. But almost everyone is susceptible. With a few hours of immobility, blood clotting is revved up as platelets clump and increase in number; so is the hormone that signals the body to make more disease-fighting white blood cells. It's almost as if the body thinks that it is ill or injured. Compounding this is dehydration, which makes the blood thicker, and swelling of the ankles, which compresses veins. Tight shoes signal that you have been stagnant for too long and flexing those leg muscles is overdue. Get up and move, however much the flight attendant may scowl, and do regular leg stretches in your seat, however cramped or silly it might seem. And keep hydrated. Sorry, but not with alcohol or caffeine, classic liquid dehydrators. For long flights, or if you face a personal risk, consider elastic stockings and maybe even a baby aspirin if your doctor agrees.
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