The Association has made a number of additional recommendations for medically-challenged airline passengers in its recently released guidelines. The guidelines suggest that doctors should warn those with epilepsy, emphysema, asthma, mental illness, heart disease, recent strokes, and other chronic medical conditions of the potential health problems associated with flying. Women pregnant with multiple fetuses are also among the groups under caution by the Association guidelines. Apparently, premature delivery can pose a problem. The stresses of getting to the airport, taking off and flying in a cramped cabin with low oxygen and low air pressure, dry air, noise and vibration are very hard on anyone's body, and can be overwhelming for passengers who may be ill, or who may have compromised immune systems.
Passengers risk blood clots from sitting in cramped positions on long flights.
To prevent swelling and blood clots, passengers need to get up and move around every hour, drink lots of water, and avoid alcohol which causes dehydration. People taking medication on a strict schedule, such as insulin for diabetes, need to change the timing of their doses because jetlag throws off the body's clocks. The airlines need to know that healthy flying is important to us. The tips offered on this website and in Diana Fairechild's groundbreaking book Jet Smarter are for making the best of a compromised situation. The Fair Air Coalition looks ahead.