The fear of flying is a highly complex issue and affects significant numbers of people but there are ways and means of dealing with the inordinate and unrealistic fear of flying.

It is either the onset of a dedicated phobia, also known as aerophobia or aviatophobia, or it is a combination of one or more specific phobias that manifest in the air. If you consider the constraints to an individual’s freedom whilst flying, then it is easy to understand how these pathological anxieties can be so crippling to some.

Pathological phobias

Freedom of movement in an airborne vehicle is largely restricted and can lead to fears of deep-vein thrombosis for instance. Then there is the fear of heights that can also manifest in psychical symptoms like sweaty palms, dizziness and shortness of breath; the fear of closed spaces, referred to as claustrophobia, is also a direct spin-off of flying and can lead to muscle tension, heart palpitations and stomach discomfort.

There are any number of specific anxieties that can and do have a marked effect on the well being of a passenger. In these instances, the best practice would be to deal with each symptom on its own. If you are experiencing a panic attack, breathe deeply and slowly into a bag and try a relaxation technique. If you are convinced you are going to faint, put your head between your knees and ask the stewardess for a cold drink.

Anxiety may not be related to flying at all

Fear of flying can also be a direct result of something unpleasant occurring prior to or after the flight itself. If, for instance, you fly to your head office for a meeting and are told you have been fired, your mind may well trigger off these unpleasant feelings all over again every time you fly. It is in this case clearly not the fear of flying that is the problem but the associated anxiety of losing your job.

This is all quite intricate to think through, but it would benefit you to explore the psychodynamics of the anxiety and to try and determine the circumstances in your life when the anxiety first developed if you suffer from these phobias.

Generally manifests in adults

As we get older we seem to become more aware of our mortality and often dwell on dangerous aspects of life or possibly life-threatening situations, and flying certainly falls into this category for many.

While it may not help us to completely overcome our fear when we are told that it is about 60 times safer to fly than to drive in a motor car in South Africa, we can use this information to influence our negative thoughts and feelings attached to flying in a positive way.

Tips to help you overcome the fear of flying

Don’t dwell on the negative possibilities; expand your awareness to embrace positive things. Take your mind off your fear by chatting to someone, or by concentrating on how beautiful the view is out your window.

Be well informed as to the relative safety of an aeroplane. Many uninformed passengers are under the misconception that it is the engines that keep a plane above the ground and therefore assume engine failure will lead to the plane plummeting to the ground. This is not true, as a plane can glide quite safely without engines for a distance and an accomplished pilot will be able land the plane without too much ado.

Instead of fighting the fact that you are not in control, resign yourself to this fact and rather do something positive like reading, sleeping (tablets can assist you with this) or even a cross-word puzzle.

If your fear of flying is attached to a fear of dying, look at a spiritual solution and if your fear of flying is a definitive phobia, seek clinical help.

For your body to function properly, it needs a steady supply of oxygenated blood that is supplied by red blood cells. These blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to different parts of the body to give you energy and keep the skin healthy.

But if the bone marrow makes too many red blood cells, the blood thickens and trouble begins. This is called polycythemia vera – a blood disorder that causes many health problems.

“Polycythemia vera – also called primary polycythemia – occurs most often in older adults. It’s rare in people younger than 20. Polycythemia vera usually develops very slowly. You may have it for years without noticing any signs or symptoms. Often, polycythemia vera is found during a blood test done for some other reason,” said the Mayo Clinic.

In the early stages, the disease has no symptoms. As it progresses, the patient may have headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing especially when lying down, chest pain, numbness and fatigue.

No one knows why people get polycythemia vera but it appears to be caused by a mutation in red blood cell production. The mutation is acquired but how this happens is a mystery. What we know if that the disease is common in older people, it affects more men than women and it appears to run in families.

“The problem with blood cell production associated with polycythemia vera is caused by a change, or mutation, to DNA in a single cell in your bone marrow. In polycythemia vera, researchers have found this mutation to be a change in a protein switch that tells the cells to grow. Specifically it’s a mutation in the protein JAK2 (the JAK2 V617F mutation),” explained the Mayo Clinic.

“More than 90 percent of patients with polycythemia vera, and about half of patients with other myeloproliferative disorders, have this mutation. Doctors and researchers don’t understand the full role of this mutation and its implications for treating the disease,” it added.

But don’t feel so bad if you have this condition since you can live with the disease in the absence of complications like a stroke, heart attack, an enlarged spleen and skin problems.

“Polycythemia vera causes your blood to be thicker than normal, which can slow the rate of blood flow through your veins and arteries. Increased blood thickness and decreased blood flow, as well as abnormalities in your platelets, increase your risk of blood clots. Blood clots can cause a stroke, a heart attack, or blockage of an artery in your lungs (pulmonary embolism) or in a vein deep within a muscle (deep vein thrombosis),” warned the Mayo Clinic.

Treatment is aimed at keeping the red blood cell level within a tolerable range. This can be done with the use of drugs, phlebotomy (removing blood) or low-dose aspirin to decrease clotting and reduce the chance of a stroke or heart attack.

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Being obese is a lot more serious than many of us think. That is why the symptoms of obesity are an important factor in finding out if someone is obese or just chubby. Obesity is more than just a few pounds overweight. Obesity can lead to an assortment of medical and mental conditions. Around the world, society is facing a problem that is continually growing, which is child obesity and obesity in general.

When you are packing a lot of fat in your body, excess fat tend to lie around your waist and chest or hips and buttocks, making you apple shaped or pear shaped, no offense intended. Conditions such as these are surely one of the symptoms of obesity. Obese men are likely to have huge waistlines, while women have a propensity to carry extra fat on their hips and buttocks. Some obese women though, who are past the menopausal stage, tend to become apple shaped.

Being obese is not a normal condition with regards to the human body. As a result, overweight people tend to become uncomfortable and can suffer from a variety of problems. These problems can then be some of the symptoms of obesity. Among them is shortness of breath. If you are an obese person, your breathing can be short and shallow. Moving around may become difficult, so you will exert more effort just by moving. Because of the excess fat, the air that we breathe will not be able to flow easily in and out of our lungs. This is why many overweight people tend to suffer from shortness of breath.

Always feeling tired can also be one of the symptoms of obesity. Shortness of breath can equal to shortness of oxygen in the blood, which in turn leaves you feeling tired. Packing too much weight can also be tiring. Many overweight people will find that doing simple household chores has become a struggle. Being fifty pounds overweight is like carrying an extra fifty pound bag of water everywhere you go. Can you imagine that?

Sore joints and muscles may also be one of the symptoms of obesity. Because of the extra weight that you carry, painful ankles, aching knees, stiff lower back, and sore muscles around those areas are inevitable. The extra load will make your ankles, knees, and muscle work harder. Besides joint and muscle pains, skin problems could also occur. Overweight people will most likely have skin folds due to excess fat which can stretch the skin tremendously. These folds can trap in moisture caused by perspiration, which can then lead to skin irritations and infections.

There are various symptoms of obesity that one should look for, like those mentioned above. Varicose veins could also occur, and in some women, irregular periods due to the excess fat upsetting the balance of hormones in the body.

As you can see, obesity can cause a lot of problems. You can start fighting obesity by trying to look for these symptoms. Prevention is always the key in battling obesity, but you can start just by studying the symptoms.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is an extremely common and highly lethal condition that is a leading cause of death in all age groups. A good clinician actively seeks the diagnosis as soon as any suspicion of PE whatsoever is warranted, because prompt diagnosis and treatment can dramatically reduce the mortality rate and morbidity of the disease. Unfortunately, the diagnosis is missed more often than it is made, because PE often causes only vague and nonspecific symptoms.
The lungs are a pair of organs in the chest that are primarily responsible for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the air we breathe and blood. The lung is composed of clusters of small air sacs (alveoli) divided by thin, elastic walls (membranes). Capillaries, the tiniest of blood vessels, run within these membranes between the alveoli and allow blood and air to come near each other.

Symptoms

Symptoms of PE are sudden-onset dyspnea (shortness of breath), tachypnea (rapid breathing), chest pain of “pleuritic” nature (worsened by breathing), cough, hemoptysis (coughing up blood), and may aid in the diagnosis. More severe cases can include signs such as pleural rub, cyanosis (blue discoloration, usually of the lips and fingers), collapse, and circulatory instability. About 15% of all cases of sudden death are attributable to PE.

Pulmonary embolism symptoms can vary greatly, depending on how much of your lung is involved, the size of the clot and your overall health — especially the presence or absence of underlying lung disease or heart disease.

Chest pain that often mimics a heart attack. The pain can occur anywhere in your chest and may radiate to your shoulder, arm, neck or jaw. It may be sharp and stabbing or aching and dull and may become worse when you breathe deeply (pleurisy), cough, eat, bend or stoop. The pain will get worse with exertion but won’t go away when you rest.

In some cases, the only signs and symptoms are related to deep vein thrombosis (DVT). These include swelling of the leg or along the vein in the leg, pain or tenderness in the leg, a feeling of increased warmth in the area of the leg that’s swollen or tender, and red or discolored skin on the affected leg.

Causes

Physiological risk factors include venous stasis (poor blood flow in the veins), venous injury (injury to the veins), and having a condition or illness that predisposes to clotting (cancer, certain blood protein deficiencies, infection). Older persons seem to have a higher risk for pulmonary embolism, as do obese persons and women taking oral contraceptives. Some people have inherited abnormalities in blood clotting that make them more likely to have pulmonary embolism.

Microscopic thrombi, or clots, are continually being made in the bloodstream. Normally, these are broken down quickly, but under certain conditions they grow to form a larger clot that blocks a vein. This is called deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Clots that form in the veins throughout your body can dislodge, travel through the bloodstream to the right side of the heart, and then enter the pulmonary arteries, where they may cause a blockage. A blockage can occur in any small artery, but the lungs are especially vulnerable because all of the blood in the body passes through the lungs every time it circulates. Most often, a number of clots will shower your lungs during an episode of pulmonary embolism; it’s unusual for just one clot to take place.

Pulmonary embolism is a condition that occurs when an artery in your lung becomes blocked. In most cases, the blockage is caused by one or more blood clots that travel to your lungs from another part of your body. Most clots originate in your legs, but they can also form in arm veins, the right side of your heart or even at the tip of a catheter placed in a vein. There are other rare causes of clots as well.

Pulmonary emboli are caused by clots from the venous circulation, from the right side of the heart, from tumours that have invaded the circulatory system, or from other sources such as amniotic fluid, air, fat, bone marrow, and foreign substances. Most pulmonary embolus are caused from clots originating in the lower extremities (deep vein thrombosis), and many resolve on their own. In some cases, pulmonary embolism can cause sudden death.

The symptoms you feel can depend on the location and size of your blood clot. Shortness of breath is the most common symptom. Other symptoms include rapid breathing; anxiety and restlessness; chest pain, which might extend into your shoulder, arm, neck, and jaw; coughing or spitting up blood; feeling lightheaded or fainting; and having a rapid heartbeat.

Half the people who have pulmonary embolism have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they can include shortness of breath, chest pain or coughing up blood. Symptoms of a blood clot include warmth, swelling, pain, tenderness and redness of the leg. The goal of treatment is to break up clots and help keep other clots from forming.

A pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blood clot in the lung. It usually comes from smaller vessels in the leg, pelvis, arms, or heart. When a clot forms in the legs or arms, it is referred to as a deep venous thrombosis (DVT). The clot travels through the vessels of the lung continuing to reach smaller vessels until it becomes wedged in a vessel that is too small to allow it to continue farther. The clot gets wedged and prevents any further blood from traveling to that section of the lung.

An embolism occurs when foreign material, such as a blood clot or air bubble, travels through the bloodstream and becomes lodged in a blood vessel, blocking the flow of blood. Embolisms can occur in veins, which carry oxygen-poor blood back to the heart and lungs, as well as arteries, which carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the tissues of the body.

Pulmonary emboli are most often caused by blood clots in the veins, especially veins in the legs or in the pelvis (hips). More rarely, air bubbles, fat droplets, amniotic fluid, or clumps of parasites or tumor cells may obstruct the pulmonary vessels.The most common cause of a pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the veins of the legs, called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Many clear up on their own, though some may cause severe illness or even death.

When blood supply is lost, tissues are starved of oxygen, causing them to die. If this happens in your brain, it can cause permanent brain damage. After the arteries have carried oxygen to all the body’s tissues, the de-oxygenated blood is returned to the heart in the veins. If the embolus is in a vein, the tube system widens in the same direction as the blood flows, so its unlikely to get stuck.

Copyright (c) 2009 Dr. Jennifer Feeny

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition in which a blood clot (a blockage) forms in a deep vein. Although these clots usually occur in the veins of the leg, they can also develop in other parts of the body. A DVT is considered a medical emergency and if you suspect that you or a loved one might have a DVT, please seek medical attention immediately. News correspondent David Bloom died in 2003 from a DVT at age 39. It is wise to familiarize yourself with the symptoms and risk factors because knowing this information may save your life.

Risk factors

A person who is inactive for an extended period of time is at increased risk of DVT. This can happen during a long airline flight, while wearing a cast, following surgery and even when in the hospital for another condition. Other risk factors include:

* Varicose veins

* Blood clotting disorders

* Family history of DVT or clotting disorders

* Heart disease

* Obesity

* Chronic leg swelling

* Dehydration

* Birth Control Pills containing estrogen

* Hormone replacement therapy

* Pregnancy/recent childbirth

* Smoking

* Age (over 40 years old)

* Trauma

* Recent surgery

The more risk factors a person has, the greater the risk of developing a DVT. But, anyone can develop a DVT, even people without any of these risk factors.

Symptoms

The most common warning signs are calf tenderness, swelling, warmth and/or redness of the leg. However, some people with a DVT have no symptoms or just a very mild discomfort in the leg.

A serious complication of DVT is a pulmonary embolism, which may cause death. This happens when a clot breaks loose from the leg and travels to the lung. Symptoms of a pulmonary embolism include:

* Shortness of breath

* Chest pain

* Tightness in chest

* Coughing up blood

Another complication of a DVT is damage to the vein from the blood clot which can result in chronic swelling, pain and discoloration of that leg.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis can be challenging for a physician, especially when symptoms are vague. Leg swelling can be cause by congestive heart failure or venous insufficiency. Calf tenderness could be caused by tendonitis. If a DVT is suspected, a doctor will order tests that can detect a blood clot in the leg. The most accurate for diagnosis is the venogram. A venogram involves injecting dye into the vein and taking pictures to determine if there is a blockage. A less invasive option is a Duplex Ultrasound. Due to its high sensitivity and specificity, Duplex Ultrasound has replaced venography as the most widely used test in evaluation of DVT. Duplex Ultrasonography is safe in pregnancy and for those allergic to contract dyes used in venograms.

Treatment

There are a few options that your doctor may recommend in the treatment of DVT. Anticoagulants, like heparin or coumadin, may be prescribed to thin the blood to prevent accrual or formation of new clots. If you are unable to take anticoagulants, a filter may be placed in a large vein called the inferior vena cava to capture the clots. Compression stockings may be used to control swelling in the legs.

Prevention

If you have risk factors for a DVT, consider these tips for reducing the likelihood of developing a blood clot:

* Exercise you legs every 2 to 3 hours when on a long trip. Walk the aisles of a plane or train, and take regular breaks during a car trip.

* Drink plenty of fluids; avoid alcohol and caffeine.

* Wear Compression stockings.

* Take blood thinning medications, if prescribed by your doctor.

* If you are hospitalized, or having surgery, discuss preventative medication with your physician.

Each year, at least 100,000 deaths are attributed to deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms. About 1 in every 1000 adults develop a DVT in a given year. Deep vein throbosis is a common, serious medical condition that all adults should be aware of. Early symptom recognition and diagnosis improves outcomes and saves lives.