Espaço Viva Mais 14/12/2010 (www.espacovivamais.com.br)

Fly healthy during the holidays
Lots of people are getting ready to board on a plane and enjoy the summer holidays. Beyond concerns about full airports and probable long waits for flights, travelers should take one more: your health in the air. Recommendations about that were recently released by the Federal Council of Medicine.

The Technical Chamber of Aerospace Medicine, from the Federal Council of Medicine issued recommendations to physicians, passengers and airline crew members. They are warnings that may prevent complications of pre-existing health problems during the flights.

For passengers, the Federal Council of Medicine recommends: Although the recommendations are simple, one cannot ignore the opinion of a physician, if in doubts. "That can make the difference between health and disease, in extreme cases, between life and death," says Frederico de Melo, coordinator of the Technical Chamber.

The director of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and a member of the Technical Chamber, Vânia Melhado, argues that, for lack of knowledge, people board unaware that they should not travel by plane, when suffering from some illnesses that may get worse during ​​flights. "Nearly all health problems during flights were not announced before boarding," he said.

From the reports of companies, a case of sudden death on board for each group of 5.7 million passengers has been identified. Factors such as pre-existing illnesses, change of routine intake of drugs for diseases already established before the flight, immobility, the means and flight time contribute to these events.
Common Problems

In the case of respiratory disease, air travel is contraindicated for passengers and crew members with active infections (pneumonia and sinusitis), contagious pulmonary infections (tuberculosis and pneumonia) and severe, unstable or recent hospitalization for asthma (respiratory illness more common among travelers). People with chronic bronchitis and emphysema should seek expert medical advice before boarding, to be determined if there is need for oxygen support during the flight.

There are also recommendations for people with cardiovascular disease, patients recovering from surgery, people with psychiatric disorders, pregnant women and newborn children. The Federal Council of Medicine recommends that travelers take the medication prescribed by doctors in sufficient quantity to be used throughout the trip and indicates the cares should be taken to prevent motion sickness.
See the full recommendations at  Physician´s Site.

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