All long travel 'raises DVT risk'

Long-distance travel of all kinds leads to a small but increased risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a government-published report said yesterday.

All forms of transport involving a journey of four hours or more led to an increase in the risk of blood clots forming in the veins of the legs, the two-year study found. In a study of air passengers of working age, for example, one case of DVT was found for every 6,000 journeys that lasted four hours or more.

But the Department for Transport, which published the study, said such clots were far more common among those in hospital than in those who travel.

Every year DVT occurs in about one to three per 1,000 people in the general population, ranging from fewer than one in 3,000 in people under the age of 40, up to one in 500 in those over 80.