How Serious is DVT?

First, Deep Vein Thrombosis can strike any long-distance traveler--regardless of physical condition, age, or gender. Secondly, DVT is not just confined to those flying economy class. First-class passengers are also at risk, as are long-distance auto and rail travelers. Headlines the world over have focused on the dangers of air travel as these news items demonstrate...

• London's Heathrow Airport reports one passenger death a month from DVT. One nearby hospital recorded thirty passenger deaths from DVT in the past three years including a 28-year-old man.
• DVT is the fourth leading cause of strokes in the United States. Approximately 2,000 Americans died from travel-related DVT-induced strokes last year! (No one knows how many deaths were not properly attributed to DVT.)
• In Australia, one law firm alone has filed 1,000 DVT claims against six airlines in just only one year.
• At Narita hospital near Tokyo's International Airport, records show an average of 100 to 150 passengers are treated for DVT immediately upon arrival each year; 3% to 5% of those die.
• Former Vice President Dan Quayle is one of the more notable victims of Deep Vein Thrombosis, having suffered an attack while on a 1994 flight--he was fortunate to survive.