Dick Cheney, Long Flights and the Dangers of Deep Vein Thrombosis
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 03.06.07 | 2:13 PM ET
The vice president has had better weeks. Not only was his former aide “Scooter” Libby just convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury, but as a result of the whopping 65 hours Cheney spent on a plane recently over the course of a 9-day trip, he has a potentially deadly blood clot in his leg. He reported experiencing “mild calf discomfort” on Monday, and that’s when his deep vein thrombosis (or DVT) was diagnosed. He’s being treated with blood-thinning medication. It’s a good reminder for all travelers to beware the dangers of flying long distances and to be able to recognize DVT symptoms. As one doctor told the Los Angeles Times: “DVT kills more people every year than breast cancer and AIDS combined, but when people have a pain in their leg, they often just shrug it off.” So what are the symptoms?
According to Merck.com:
About half of the people with deep vein thrombosis have no symptoms at all. In these people, chest pain caused by pulmonary embolism may be the first indication that something is wrong. When deep vein thrombosis blocks blood flow in a large leg vein, the calf swells and may be painful, tender to the touch, and warm. The ankle, foot, or thigh may also swell, depending on which veins are involved.
Complicating things, notes Flighthealth.org, “many people naturally experience swelling of the ankles during a flight, which is not in any way associated with DVT.”
The site has a Web page with tips for cutting the risk of DVT during air travel. Among the tips: Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated during a flight, walk for 30 minutes before the flight and then take short walks regularly during the flight.
According to the Times’ report, about 2 million Americans are diagnosed with DVT every year, and about 300,000 die of it, “primarily because they do not recognize the symptoms and seek treatment.”
Inactivity is a major cause, but one doctor explained that air travel boosts the risk of DVT because of diminished oxygen in airplanes and because the dry cabin air increases the likelihood of dehydration.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
Josh 03.06.07 | 9:53 PM ET
I have a really, really hard time believing those numbers. 300,000 deaths from DVT a year in the U.S.? That’d be about 12% of all deaths from any cause. That sounds at least an order of magnitude too high.
Manchester to Heathrow 05.01.08 | 5:00 PM ET
How long does a flight have to be before the risks become meaningful? I often travel inter-city in the UK but the flights are only 1 or 2 hours at a time, this isn’t a risk right?
Scooter 05.10.08 | 6:20 PM ET
That is very scary since you might fall asleep on a long flight and never know when it hits you.
tubs 05.13.08 | 2:12 AM ET
I bet Dick Cheney didn’t drink too much water but got a little overhand with the free drinks.