Traveler’s Health Tips

The holidays are close at hand and many families will be traveling this season.
Consider adding some, or all, of these to your travel activities, both prior to boarding
and while you're on board a long flight:

· Drink sufficient fluids
· Wear loose­fitting clothes
· Avoid smoking and alcoholic beverages
· Perform physical exercises in your seat (particularly for feet and legs). You
could do toe touches or simply rise up on your toes several times to "pump"
the blood around.
· Follow the "Fasten Seatbelt" signs when lit, but get up when it is safe to do so
and stretch your legs.

Sitting relatively motionless for long periods of time allows blood to pool in the legs
and, at times, to clot. Then when the person begins to move around again, there is a
small risk that a clot will be dislodged from the blood vessel wall and travel to vital
organs in other parts of the body. This condition is known as deep­vein thrombosis
(DVT). If a dislodged clot were to travel to the lungs, it can cause a potentially fatal
disorder called pulmonary embolism (PE).
The danger of DVT is that it often does not manifest any symptoms. Or in some
cases, people may experience tenderness, pain, fluid retention, warmth or bluish
skin discoloration at the site of the DVT.
The symptoms can include one or more of the following: sudden shortness of breath,
sharp localized chest pain, or coughing up blood.

Jet Lag


If your flight crosses more than 3 time zones, then you might experience jet lag. Symptoms of jet
lag include:

· Fatigue (and yet inability to sleep at the new night time).
· Loss of appetite.
· Difficulty concentrating.
· Altered bowel movements.
· Generally feeling "below par".

The symptoms arise because your body clock is slow to adjust to the new time zone. Jet­lag
tends to be more of a problem if you are older, if you are flying east or if you are flying long
distances.
There is good news, however, because research has shown that the body clock can be made toadjust faster by exposure to bright light and dim light at appropriate times.
Travelers Diarrhoea
Travelers commonly suffer attacks of diarrhoea particularly during the first week or two of a stay
in a foreign environment. The commonest causes are bacteria and viruses in contaminated food
and water. Symptoms are usually those of abdominal cramps, vomiting and fever followed by
diarrhoea lasting for about 2­3 days. In warm climates dehydration can lead to rapid prostration,
particularly in children.

Treatment

Children

Children should continue to eat and babies continue to be breastfed otherwise they quickly lose
weight and energy.
Fluid replacement is essential and should be started early.
Sugar/salt rehydration solution may either be made up from commercially available mixtures or as
follows:
To 1 litre of clean water (boiled, bottled or from a purifier) add 1 level teaspoon of salt and 8 level
teaspoons of sugar.
For each loose stool passed give:

· Small infants ­ ¼ glass of solution and one volume of plain water for every two volumes.
· Small children ­ ½ glass of solution
· Older children ­ 1 glass of solution.
· Sufficient fluid should given to ensure a good output of normal looking urine.

Adults


Continue to eat but choose a bland diet and avoid alcohol and dairy products until 12 hours after
the last loose stool.
Fluid replacement ­ 2 glasses of solution per loose stool.
Total fluid intake should be about 3 litres per 24 hours.
If diarrhoea lasts longer than 4 days or there is a fever of 38 degrees C or greater or there is
blood in the stool then medical attention should be sought.
Prevention
It is very difficult to avoid traveler’s diarrhoea but the risk may be reduced by
avoiding food and water, which may be contaminated.