Friday, April 18, 2008
Health when traveling
Traveling overseas poses threats to health. The travel industry doesn’t want travelers to know that. For example, 30 to 80 percent of people traveling overseas develop traveler’s diarrhea. Other travelers are exposed to TB, Legionnaire’s disease when staying in hotels, or develop blood clots in the lower legs.
When you travel by airlines you re-breathe other people’s air. So someone seated in the same section of an airliner with an infectious lung disease like tuberculosis can infect you, especially if your immune system isn’t up to par. Such is the case of a passenger on a flight from India to the San Francisco Bay area, health officials say. The infected passenger sat within 16 rows of a TB patient for more than 8 hours. [San Francisco Chronicle, April 17, 2008] One third of the world’s population has tuberculosis of the lungs (that’s 2 billion people), and many travel on airplanes and expose others to TB. Natural immune boosters can ward off TB and protect against infection when traveling by air.
Furthermore, up to 10% of air travelers develop blood clots in their lower legs, especially travelers on long-haul flights. Natural blood thinners should be considered.
Viral infection from Norwalk viruses are also common, especially on cruise ships. In one year (2002), 17 cruises ships sailing the Caribbean experienced outbreaks of Norwalk virus. On four successive cruises on the same ship, outbreaks of Norwalk virus were reported despite efforts to sanitize the ship. [Emerging Infectious Diseases 11: 154, 2005] No mention is made that Norwalk viruses are harbored in shellfish and then transmitted from human to human. Norwalk virus is associated with approximately 90% of non-bacterial acute stomach upset worldwide. Travelers need to put up their guard before leaving for vacations or business trips. To learn more, read the Travel Survival Guide at
http://www.lifespannutrition.com/Travelhealth.pdfLabels: Norwalk virus, TB, travel health
posted by Knowledge of Health at 2:17 AM
