Economy Class Syndrome or DVT

© 2003 Max Lent

Walk or die!  If you sit unmoving for several hours or longer cramped in your middle row seat you could be killing your self.  Others have died from doing just that.  The problem is economy class syndrome or  deep-vein thrombosis or DVT.  Blood clots can form in your thigh or calf from lack of movement.  The chances of getting economy class syndrome are small, but do you want to be the exception.  Airlines don't like for their passengers to spend a lot of time out of their seats.  They often keep the seatbelt sign on much longer than needed.  If you are stuck in your itty bitty little butt crunching seat, take off your shoes or wear sandals to start with, wiggle your toes, flex your feet, use the balls of your feet to press hard against the floor or the seat of the person in front of you who keeps putting their seat back all the way.  Tell the people between you and the isle that you are flying back from the Amazon jungle and have bouts of projectile vomiting and diarrhea and that you have only seconds warning to get to the bathroom without having an accident.  They will then get used to the fact that you need to get up frequently and go for walks.

On long transatlantic flights or overland flights to Asia I make it a practice to get up and go for a walk at least once an hour.  I also try to get isle seats on long flights so that I don't have to tell the Amazon story. 

Important News

Claimants argue that long flights may cause blood clots

LONDON, Jan. 31 — A British court cleared the way on Thursday for a class action suit against up to 30 airlines worldwide over blood clots suffered by passengers on long-haul flights, dubbed “economy class syndrome.”