High Blood Pressure And Air Travel

By Christian Goodman

I was reading an online news article the other day about a certain well known director who was denied a seat on a plane because he was to big (according to the airline's restrictions) to take up only one seat and they were overbooked. He had to take another flight.

Even though he is not humiliated by the situation, he should have been embarrassed. He is very brilliant that he did not escalate the situation. He just took a pic of him in the next flight and posted it online.

Earlier, i have also posted many articles on air travel and vertigo. As I'm always fond of connecting health related issues, I started thinking about the issues that may affect a over weight person when he travels in air apart from self esteem.

What about high blood pressure? What ill health effects do people with high blood pressure, or hypertension, suffer and simply dismiss as side effects of travel?

If your blood pressure is controlled by medication, there is no conclusive proof that air travel affects the condition due to cabin air pressurization. The thing to consider is that air travel can be stressful, a known contributor to high blood pressure. Long wait lines, frequent delays and crowded flights, not to mention security concerns abound.

If you are unable to control your blood pressure with medicine or if you suffer serious side effects that many do, this is where the concern lies. Just like a person with asthma has to be prepared for an "event" when traveling, people at risk for heart attack or stroke have to consider that they won't be able to receive immediate care while flying.

Deep vein thrombosis or DVT (a clot which forms in the leg) can affect anyone who flies but those with high blood pressure are at a higher risk. In addition to being painful, if the clot breaks off and travels to the lungs, a pulmonary embolism can happen, making it a potentially fatal condition.

Swollen feet and ankles is one side effect that everyone, especially those fly long distances suffer. This is not generally a concern but can be exacerbated by those with high blood pressure. The blood pools in the legs due to not moving for extended periods of time.

You can walk around the cabin every 1 hour, stretching your calf, having plenty of water and minimizing the intake of alcohol. These things will facilitate free movement of blood.

If you are on medication for blood pressure then you should make sure that it should last for the whole trip. You should also remember that these days flight delays and cancellations are very common.

It is also advised that you should also meet your physician and discuss about any problems you might face. You need not afraid of doing all these things as there are only very limited individuals who were not cleared to fly. You should speak to airline heads if you are in need of oxygen.

I also highly recommend my all natural High Blood Pressure program. I guarantee its success. I hope it can help you as it's help so many thousands of my clients!

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