A WEEK AFTER flying back to Hong Kong from Australia, a 36-year-old man found himself short of breath every time he tried walking up and down stairs.
He shuttled from one doctor to another, from the emergency room to his family physician, but still had no clue as to why his healthy lungs suddenly became a pair of leaking balloons. It was finally a cardiologist, the fourth doctor he saw, who spotted blood clots in his legs and lungs and prescribed the drugs that saved him from what has become known as 'economy-class syndrome'. At that time, in July 1999, the life-threatening ailment was virtually unheard of. But now it has become a household term after the death of a 28-year-old bride-to-be from Britain last October. She collapsed and died at the end of a 20-hour flight from Sydney to London, on her way home after watching the Olympic Games.
Frequent air travellers are now realising the potential health hazards of being crammed into narrow economy-class aircraft seats for up to 20 hours.
The fatal condition, medically known as Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), refers to blood clotting within the main vein of the leg after a long period of immobility.
The clots can kill, days or even weeks later, if they flow to the upper part of the body and block vessels in the lungs and heart.
There is not yet any systematic research and data available about the condition in Hong Kong. But a medical expert revealed to the South China Morning Post that at least one local hospital saw eight to 10 patients a year who suffered from blood clotting in the lungs and who had recently embarked on long-haul flights.
While it is not yet possible to prove any causal correlation between the two, it is known that 10 years ago, Hong Kong recorded one fatality from the syndrome.