Cabin Fever

For those who have flown in a commercial airliner there can be mixed feelings of excitement and uneasiness.

The former is associated with the purpose of the flight, a holiday, reunion, migration to another country and the latter being perfectly natural where you trust others to do their job and get you to your destination safely.

I was a very late starter in flying with my first overseas vacation to involve use of a passenger jet being at the age of 37.

This can be explained by a number of factors including perfectly good destinations within driving distance in the UK and Northern Europe, a young family with insurmountable logistics for foreign travel , the cost of course and the fact that a relative died in a plane crash in the 1970's. The last tragedy probably played at the back of my mind more than the other more material issues.

I did experience stronger emotions of terror than excitement on my first take-off from Manchester en route to Cephalonia, Greece. I did not really know what to expect in terms of speed along the runway, the accompanying noise of powerful engines and the general rattling and bouncing that goes with a acceleration from a standing start to heave the aircraft and its load into the air.

The steep angle of ascent into the Lancashire sky and a few more lurches and twitches of the cabin did cause me palpitations as did the occasional shudder and stagger from turbulence which was inevitable in the warming air of a July morning.

Within a few years I came to take flying for granted as our main annual holiday was now more likely to be a dash for the sunshine around the Mediterranean. I was being prepared for a once in a lifetime flight to visit my wife's family in Australia via Singapore.

To many of us being a passenger in a commercial aircraft is straight forward and enjoyable. That was becoming my attitude until my younger brother had to spend a couple of days in a hyperbaric chamber in his local hospital following what appeared to have been a near catastrophic failure of the cabin oxygen system on a short haul flight returning from Germany.

This is an extreme example of just one health implication of flying.

Apparently there are a few other health issues that we should be 1) aware of and 2) a little bit scared of.

An aircraft cabin is a closed environment. The air pressure is at 75% of normal atmospheric pressure which is the equivalent as being for the duration at the same altitude as Mexico City. The lowering of oxygen in the bloodstream can cause the condition of Hypoxia with feelings of dizziness, fatigue and headaches.

On a flight we are 100 times more likely to catch a cold. Half of the cabin air is re-circulated causing germs and viruses to spread easily amongst the passengers.

Humidity levels can be as low as 4%. Gradually under such conditions there can be drying out of the mucus membranes in nose, throat and ears. On a 3 hour flight, which from the UK will get you to the central Mediterranean, it is possible to lose one and a half litres of water from the body with a real risk of dehydration.

Even our taste buds are affected being numbed at high altitude. Dryness and air pressure changes can affect ears, sinuses and taste. My ears regularly build up with pressure and pop multiple times.

You may have noticed feeling bloated and with stomach pains and even constipation which is down to air pressure.

There has been a lot of encouragement in the media in recent years to wear compression socks, take an aspirin and if possible move about the cabin to offset the risk of deep vein thrombosis.

A lesser known and publicised side effect is cosmic radiation. A seven hour flight gives exposure to the same dose of radiation as having an X-Ray.

Not wanting to cause panic but there have also been incidences of E.Coli and other bacterial infections from on-board water supplies.

Plenty to think about then and that is before you accept any of the complimentary pre-prepared and warmed up catering, experience the stress of being pestered by cabin staff to buy a lottery ticket or something from the glossy, aspirational in flight duty free brochure.

It should be remembered that flying is still one of the safest ways to travel even if you arrive at your destination in a poorer state of health than when you left home.

(Source document; The Independent)