“Economy-class” Syndrome
After the 2004 earthquake in Niigata-Chuetsu, medical experts learned that when victims spent long periods of times in their vehicles, they developed blood clots that blocked blood vessels and caused death.
"Economy-class syndrome", or deep-vein thrombosis, is a condition in which blood clots develop in people's legs when they remain seated for long periods of time. These blood clots enter the bloodstream when the person stands up and are carried to their lungs, resulting in a blockage of the pulmonary artery or one of its branches."
Preventing this kind of death is easy….move…stretch out your legs…drink lots of water.
Shelters get crowded after earthquakes and people resort to staying in their cars….until death do they part.
Common sense tells me that when my legs are falling asleep or I feel cramps…then I need to stand up and stretch them out.
I suppose common sense is not so common everywhere.
Do you know someone who has died from not moving enough?
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March 26, 2007
I bet more people have issues with seiza than with vehicle-related deep-vein thrombosis. But that’s just a guess I’d hazard as a seiza hater. Ha ha. My legs go out much faster in seiza position than they do on any vehicles.