A doctor has warned travelers not to sit on long -distance flights for hours on long distance, and says that this runs the risk of a life -threatening blood clot.
Dr. Deepak Bhatt, a cardiologist in the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, warned that the inactivity could lead to blood pools in the legs and form a clot.
This could then travel to an organ, such as the lungs, and get stuck, reducing blood circulation and forcing the heart to work much harder, causing a heart attack.
He told DailyMail.com: 'The advice I give to everyone, especially on longer flights, does not remain tight there.
“Every few hours, if you can, you walk up and down through the aisles and extend a bit.”
It comes after the Canadian traveler Emily Jansson, 33, suffered from a life-threatening pulmonary embolism (PE)-where a blood clot blocked the artery that supplied her lungs and collapsed while he was on a 13-hour flight from Toronto to Dubai.
The two -year -old mother was already ten hours before he came up to use the bathroom, so she pulled out two weak cough before she collapses.
The plane landed quickly and she was rushed to the hospital, where doctors said she had approached death because of her cardiac arrest. PE is a medical emergency and must be treated immediately to prevent death.
Ten hours after her flight from Toronto to Dubai, Emily Jansson got up from her chair by the window to use the toilet. While she was waiting in line, she coughed weak twice before collapsing, with a pulmonary embolism-threatening blood clots in her lungs
Mrs. Jansson, who unveiled her business on Tiktok, was shocked by the incident and said she had the 'heart of an athlete' because she regularly did long cycling trips and cardio-intense training.
It is not common to undergo a pulmonary embolism on a flight, where the complication affects approximately one in 40,000 passengers on long -distance flights that amount to more than 12 hours.
About 900,000 people are diagnosed with PE in the US every year, with, according to the American Lung Association, around 10 to 30 percent of patients die within one month after diagnosis. It is arranged as the third leading cause of cardiovascular death.
In most cases, the condition is caused by a blood clot of the legs, called a deep vein thrombosis, which travels to the lungs.
Mrs. Jansson also revealed that she was wearing compression socks, of which Dr. Bhatt said they were not recommended for healthy people.
He said: “There is no evidence that in the context of people who are otherwise healthy, wearing these things on flights reduces blood clots, so I generally do not recommend them for people.”
But for people who have had certain blood clots that damage the veins, we can recommend the socks to prevent swelling in the leg. “
He added: “Hold your legs on the minimum in the chair and bend your ankles.”
The doctor also said it was important to stay hydrated on flights, which can also reduce the risk of clots by preventing blood from thickening.
Emily Jansson, who landed on her face when she fainted, also used hormonal contraception, which increases the production of certain coagulation factors in the liver and at the same time reduces the production of proteins that help prevent excessive coagulation
He said: 'In addition to getting up every few hours, it is important to stay well hydrated.
“It reduces the risk of blood clots that form in the vein, especially in the legs, that can break down and go to the lungs.”
Dr. Deepak Bhatt, a top cardiologist on Mount Sinai, DailYMail.com told that getting up of your tight airplane seat and runs up and down for a few minutes through the aisles
He also warned against drinking alcohol on flights and said that this was a diuretic and would encourage the body to lose water.
'Even one drink, it is not the end of the world, but it does not help the cause. You absolutely don't want to drink alcohol for various reasons, “he said.
“And nobody needs another drunk person on a flight.”
Mrs. Jansson, who had traveled with her husband, said she had not moved for ten hours because it was very busy.
She said: “People sleep or eat. Moreover, they do not really encourage you to get up and walk on flights and then there is often turbulence, so you have to sit.
“Yet I wish I had come up to move much more.”
For long -term periods, the risk of blood clots can increase that travel from the legs to the lungs.
Sitting in a tight chair of the airline, blood flow limits to the legs and back to the heart, while the muscles in the legs that normally pump blood back to the heart are inactive.
Sitting in a tight airline chair, the blood flow limits to the legs, while the muscles in the legs that normally pump blood back to the heart are inactive
The history of Mrs. Jansson about having a small procedure to reduce varicose veins in her legs may have contributed.
She also took hormonal contraception, which increases the production of certain coagulation factors in the liver, while reducing the production of anticoagulating proteins, which normally help prevent excessive coagulation.
About 30 percent of people who experience PE do this a second time or more.
Mrs. Jansson will undergo extra blood tests to ensure that she will not experience any other clot. The risk is highest within six months of experiencing the first. She also takes blood thinners to prevent her blood from solidifying again.
And the remaining trauma of reaching the cusp of death continues to give her fear.
She said: 'I was petrified to fly home, but it helped to have my husband with me. I was afraid to go to the bathroom and lock it up so that I had guarded it outside.
“I certainly have some things to continue working.”
PE is relatively common and finds around 900,000 and ranks as the third leading cause of cardiovascular death. The top two are coronary arteries and strokes.
About 100,000 people who experience PE, and doctors told Mrs. Jansson that she survived a 'catastrophic event'.
“I felt so grateful that I live,” said Mrs. Jansson.
