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Travel Medicine Alliance Travel Update - Read on-line here |
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Office workers more prone to blood clots than travellersBy Ray Lilley Mar 13, 2007 Associated Press Office workers glued to computer screens are at greater risk of deadly blood clots forming in their legs than long-distance air travelers, the author of a New Zealand study on thrombosis has said. The study found that 34 percent of patients admitted to hospital with blood clots had been seated at work for long periods, its leader, Prof. Richard Beasley of New Zealand's privately funded Medical Research Institute, told The Associated Press. Deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a condition in which a blood clot forms in the deep veins of the legs. The condition can be fatal if part of the clot breaks off and blocks a blood vessel in the lungs. The condition has been linked to long-haul flights and dubbed "economy class syndrome" because passengers travelling coach often do not have the space or opportunity to stretch enough to reduce the risk of blood clotting. "Being seated for long periods of time ... the risk is certainly there" of blood clots developing in the veins of the legs, Beasley told National Radio. "There are considerably more people who are seated for long periods at work as part of their normal day than there are travelling," he said, adding the main groups affected are workers in the information technology industry and in call centres. The study covered 62 patients aged under 65 who were admitted to hospital with blood clots. Beasley said a surprise finding of the study was that "people are working for so long. We had people not uncommonly working up to 12-14 hours a day and being seated for that time". The 34 percent finding is far higher than the 1.4 percent of blood-clot patients who recently travelled on long-haul flights, and the study showed a clear link between travel and work-related thrombosis. "It's the same thing occurring in a similar circumstance as travellers' thrombosis," he noted. Some reported being seated on the job for 3-4 hours at a stretch, "reflecting the very sedentary nature of our work at the moment," he said. A second study of seated immobility at work had results "very consistent with what we've found" in the first, Beasley said without elaborating. The study will be published next month in the New Zealand Medical Journal. Need to sleep on a bus?A 71 year-old man travelling in Turkey recently had a sleep with his head resting against the window while driving over a bumpy road. Four hours into the trip, he complained of a headache, and one hour later he began to lose consciousness. On investigation, he was found to have a bleed into the brain. This can sometimes be fatal. The good news is this man had access to good medical care and the blood was drained and he survived. A small travel pillow can be very handy when travelling. Dengue Fever in Townsville and the worldDengue is a mosquito-borne infection that feels like a very bad flu. It is most common in Asia and the Pacific, but sometimes occurs closer to home - dengue has recently been reported in Townsville! Over four thousand cases were reported in Jakarta in March 07; double the number during the same time last year. The Dominican Republic reported three deaths and more than 1000 officially registered cases of dengue so far this year. In Mexico, officials are concerned about an alarming rise in dengue fever, as cases have risen 600 percent in the country since 2001. All over the world, dengue has grown dramatically more common in recent decades. The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-east Asia and the Western Pacific. South-east Asia and the Western Pacific are most seriously affected. Before 1970 only nine countries had experienced DHF epidemics, a number that had increased more than four-fold by 1995. Two fifths of the world's population are now at risk from dengue. WHO currently estimates there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. Sometimes Dengue can be fatal ... it is estimated that dengue causes more than 20,000 deaths each year. The good news is that there is progress towards the development of a dengue vaccine. This effort has been aided by funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but the vaccine is not available just yet. In the meantime mosquito avoidance is the only way for travellers prevent Dengue.
Sent to: _Joe_ _Sample_ _Joe.Sample@sample.com.au_ [opentrack] |
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