(Express Drives) — We’ve all at some point been confined within the limited space in a car or bus or airplane during a long haul journey. While this causes utter discomfort even at the thought of it, we’ve sadly got more bad news. According to a new study, sitting in a confined space for long hours may increase the risk of developing a condition called venous thromboembolisms (VTE) – a blood clot that forms most often in the deep veins of the leg, groin or arm.
VTE is common in hospitalised patients and causes more deaths in the US than accidents. The basis for this study comes from findings from the aftermath of the Kumamoto earthquakes that struck Japan in April 2016.
The study found an ‘epidemic’ of blood clots developing in the legs, and in numerous cases going to the lungs, in many of the people forced to evacuate, according to the study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
Analysis of questionnaires from 21 local medical institutions established that 51 patients were hospitalised following the earthquakes due to VTE. Of these, 42 patients (82.4 percent) had spent the night in a vehicle. (…)