Flying the unfriendly skies

With all the talk these days about airlines hiking up rates and charging passengers extra for each bag they check, flying the friendly skies seems to be somewhat of an outdated and grossly inaccurate tag line. This is especially true when you consider that, because of rising fuel costs, many planes will now be flying at slower speeds. This, in turn, will cause two things to happen: 1) Flights may take longer than they did in the past, and 2) The risk for airliner-related health issues increase.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is of particular concern, for a growing body of evidence -- including a recent study from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands -- suggests that long plane rides are a common cause of this potentially fatal health problem. A second issue related to spending more time on a plane is the increased risk of catching a cold, which, according to the Journal of Environmental Health, is 100 times more likely to occur in this enclosed environment.

Since Airborne proved to be no help whatsoever in staving off colds, your best bet for a long plane ride is to go into them as healthy as possible -- which can be achieved with most success with proper diet and regular exercise. As for DVT, many experts suggest taking occasional walks around the cabin and doing some basic stretches during flights.