It is normally thought that risks of blood clots are high during air travel, and not with other forms of travel. New research has dispelled this common opinion, by suggesting that blood clots can from during any form of travel where the duration is more than four hours.
The study has revealed that traveling for more than four hours by air, car, bus or train can elevate the danger of clot formation. This was substantiated when the research team analyzed 2000 people, who have suffered a blood clot in the vein, without any prior indication or occurrence. Nearly 233 of these participants had undertaken travel for more than 4 hrs almost 45-50 days before the thrombosis struck.Women on contraceptive pills carry a high risk of vein thrombosis, researchers said. The presence of a specific mutation in the gene in charge of clotting, termed as the V Leiden, also increased the risk of clotting by almost eight times. The obese also need to be guarded, as the risk of clotting is almost fourfold. The findings pertained to people who were less than 70 yrs of age.
Suzanne Cannegieter, of Leiden University Medical Centre, who led the research, said, “It can be concluded that the risk of venous thrombosis is twofold increased for all travelers and to the same extent for all modes of travel. In individuals who use oral contraceptives, are carriers of the factor V Leiden mutation, or are particularly tall, short, or obese, the risk is considerably higher.”
