Pre-flight genetic testing could help guard against flight-related deep vein thrombosis, says an Australian medical geneticist.
This, and other ways of combating flight-related DVT, are expected to be discussed at a closed meeting of airline executives and medical experts in Sydney on 9 February. British Airways, Qantas, and Ansett are among those scheduled to attend.
Flight-related DVT occurs when a passenger鈥檚 blood clots after long periods sitting in cramped conditions. The condition can be fatal if the clots reach the lung.
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Gillian Turner, a medical geneticist at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, says people planning a long haul flight should consider being tested for a mutation in a blood-clotting-related gene.
The 鈥淔actor V Leiden鈥� mutation is very common, occurring in roughly one in every 20 people, and increases the chances of blood clots forming. Between 20 and 50 per cent of people who get DVT following long-haul flights, or while bed-bound in hospital, carry the mutation.
If travellers carry the gene, they could then take simple precautions such as drinking plenty of water or taking aspirin, which helps stop clots forming. They could even consider breaking up their flight.
鈥淭here is another component besides saying that it鈥檚 all the airlines fault for not telling people to move their legs,鈥� says Turner. The test for Factor V Leiden is relatively cheap, and the results are available within days.
But not every one believes the time is right for recommending that long distance travellers resort to genetic testing. 鈥淭he first thing is to find out the frequency of the problem,鈥� says Reginald Lord, a vascular surgeon at Sydney鈥檚 St Vincent鈥檚 Hospital.
鈥淚f the [flight-related] DVT risk is really low, it may be a lot less than the risk of complications of taking aspirin,鈥� he says. Aspirin can trigger gastric bleeding in susceptible people, such as those with peptic ulcers.
It is unusual for harmful gene mutation to be so common. One explanation is that by increasing blood clotting it may have improved a woman鈥檚 chances of surviving pregnancy and labour before the advent of modern techniques for stopping haemorrhaging.
鈥淭here must have been a good side to it, until people started to fly long distance,鈥� says Turner.