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Health Hazards Of Air Travel
A number of possible health hazards of air travel have been investigated. Infection On an airplane, people sit in a confined space for extended periods of time, which increases the risk of transmission of airborne infections. For this reason, airlines place restrictions on the travel of passengers with known airborne contagious diseases (e.g. tuberculosis). During the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2003, awareness of the possibility of acquisition of infection on a commercial aircraft reached its zenith when on one flight from Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ... to Beijing, 16 of 120 people on the flight developed proven SARS from a single Index case (medicine), index case. There is very limited research done on Infectious disease, cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in which case it is known as latent tuberculosis. Around 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated, kill about half of those affected. Typical symptoms of active TB are chronic cough with blood-containing mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically referred to as consumption due to the weight loss associated with the disease. Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms. Tuberculosis is spread from one person to the next through the air when people who have active TB in their lungs cough, spit, speak, or sneeze. People with Latent TB do not spread the disease. Active infection occurs more often in people with HIV/AIDS and in those who smoke. Diagnosis of active TB is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised geodetic datumthat is used, for example, as a chart datum in cartography and marine navigation, or, in aviation, as the standard sea level at which atmospheric pressure is measured to calibrate altitude and, consequently, aircraft flight levels. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is instead the midpoint between a mean low and mean high tide at a particular location. Sea levels can be affected by many factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. Current sea level rise is mainly caused by human-induced climate change. When temperatures rise, Glacier, mountain glaciers and the Ice sheet, polar ice caps melt, increasing the amount of water in water bodies. Because most of human settlem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shame Of Flying
Flight shame or ''flygskam'' is an anti-flying social movement, with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of aviation. Flight shame refers to an individual's uneasiness over engaging in consumption that is energy-intense and climatically problematic. It also reflects on air travelers as people involved in socially undesirable activities, and adaptive behaviour as described in the related Swedish term "smygflyga". It started in 2018 in Sweden and gained traction the following year throughout northern Europe. ''Flygskam'' is a Swedish word that literally means "flight shame". The movement discourages people from flying to lower carbon emissions to thwart climate change. Origins , a Swedish singer, was reported to have coined the term in 2017. Björn Ferry, an Olympic athlete, was also one of the first notable champions of the concept. Malena Ernman, an opera singer and the mother of teenage activist Greta Thunberg, also announced publicly that she would stop flying. Thunb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jet Lag
Jet lag is a physiological condition that results from alterations to the body's circadian rhythms caused by rapid long-distance trans-meridian (east–west or west–east) travel. For example, someone flying from New York to London, i.e. from west to east, feels as if the time were five hours ''earlier'' than local time, and someone travelling from London to New York, i.e. from east to west, feels as if the time were five hours ''later'' than local time. The phase shift when traveling from east to west is referred to as phase-delay of the circadian circle, whereas going west to east is phase-advance of the circadian circle. Most travelers find that it is harder to timezone adjust when traveling to the east. Jet lag was previously classified as one of the circadian rhythm sleep disorders. The condition of jet lag may last several days before the traveller is fully adjusted to the new time zone; a recovery period of one day per time zone crossed is a suggested guideline. Jet l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fear Of Flying
Fear of flying is a fear of being on an airplane, or other flying vehicle, such as a helicopter, while in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromechanophobia (although aerophobia also means a fear of drafts or of fresh air). Acute anxiety caused by flying can be treated with anti-anxiety medication. The condition can be treated with exposure therapy, which works better when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy. Signs and symptoms People with fear of flying experience intense, persistent fear or anxiety when they consider flying, as well as during flying. They will avoid flying if they can, and the fear, anxiety, and avoidance cause significant distress and impair their ability to function. Take-off, bad weather, and turbulence appear to be the most anxiety provoking aspects of flying. The most extreme manifestations can include panic attacks or vomiting at the mere sight or mention of an aircra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviation Medicine
Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or astronauts. The specialty strives to treat or prevent conditions to which aircrews are particularly susceptible, applies medical knowledge to the human factors in aviation and is thus a critical component of aviation safety. A military practitioner of aviation medicine may be called a flight surgeon and a civilian practitioner is an aviation medical examiner. One of the biggest differences between the military and civilian flight doctors is the military flight surgeon's requirement to log flight hours. Overview Broadly defined, this subdiscipline endeavors to discover and prevent various adverse physiological responses to hostile biologic and physical stresses encountered in the aerospace environment. Problems range from life support measures for astronauts to recognizing an ear block in an infant traveling on an a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Safety
Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of aircraft and aviation infrastructure. The aviation industry is subject to significant regulation and oversight. Aviation security is focused on protecting air travelers, aircraft and infrastructure from intentional harm or disruption, rather than unintentional mishaps. Statistics Evolution In 1926 and 1927, there were a total of 24 fatal commercial airline crashes, a further 16 in 1928, and 51 in 1929 (killing 61 people), which remains the worst year on record at an accident rate of about 1 for every flown. Based on the current numbers flying, this would equate to 7,000 fatal incidents per year. For the ten-year period 2002 to 2011, 0.6 fatal accidents happened per one million flights globally, 0.4 per million hours flown, 22.0 fatali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerotoxic Syndrome
Aerotoxic syndrome relates to ill-health effects that are claimed to be caused by breathing contaminated airliner cabin air. This condition is not an established medical diagnosis. Potential sources of contamination Modern jetliners have environmental control systems (ECS) that manage the flow of cabin air. Outside air enters the engines and is compressed in the forward section of the engine, prior to the combustion section, ensuring no combustion products can enter the cabin. A portion of that compressed bleed air is used to pressurize the cabin. The ECS then recirculates some of that cabin air through HEPA filters, while the rest is directed to outflow valves, ensuring there is a constant supply of fresh, clean air coming into the cabin pressurization system at all times. Jet engines require synthetic oils for lubrication. These oils contain ingredients such as tricresyl phosphate (TCP or TOCP), an organophosphate, which can be toxic to humans but only in quantities much la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airsickness
Airsickness is a specific form of motion sickness which is induced by air travel and is considered a normal response in healthy individuals. Airsickness occurs when the central nervous system receives conflicting messages from the body (including the inner ear, eyes and muscles) affecting balance and equilibrium. Whereas commercial airline passengers may simply feel poorly, the effect of airsickness on military aircrew may lead to a decrement in performance and adversely affect the mission.Samuel, O., & Tal, D. (2015). Airsickness: Etiology, Treatment, and Clinical Importance—A Review. Military medicine, 180(11), 1135-1139. The inner ear is particularly important in the maintenance of balance and equilibrium because it contains sensors for both angular (rotational) and linear motion. Airsickness is usually a combination of spatial disorientation, nausea and vomiting.Antunano, Melchor J., M.D''Medical Facts for Pilots'' (pdf)Federal Aviation Administration, Civil Aerospace Medi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ionizing Radiation
Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel up to 99% of the speed of light, and the electromagnetic waves are on the high-energy portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma rays, X-rays, and the higher energy ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum are ionizing radiation, whereas the lower energy ultraviolet, visible light, nearly all types of laser light, infrared, microwaves, and radio waves are non-ionizing radiation. The boundary between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation in the ultraviolet area is not sharply defined, as different molecules and atoms ionize at different energies. The energy of ionizing radiation starts between 10 electronvolts (eV) and 33 eV. Typical ionizing subatomic particles include alpha particles, beta particles, and neutrons. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geomagnetic Pole
The geomagnetic poles are antipodal points where the axis of a best-fitting dipole intersects the surface of Earth. This ''theoretical'' dipole is equivalent to a powerful bar magnet at the center of Earth, and comes closer than any other point dipole model to describing the magnetic field observed at Earth's surface. In contrast, the magnetic poles of the actual Earth are not antipodal; that is, the line on which they lie does not pass through Earth's center. Owing to motion of fluid in the Earth's outer core, the actual magnetic poles are constantly moving (secular variation). However, over thousands of years, their direction averages to the Earth's rotation axis. On the order of once every half a million years, the poles reverse (i.e., north switches place with south) although the time frame of this switching can be anywhere from every 10 thousand years to every 50 million years. The poles also swing in an oval of around in diameter daily due to solar wind deflecting the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Route
A polar route is an aircraft route across the uninhabited polar ice cap regions. The term "polar route" was originally applied to great circle navigation routes between Europe and the west coast of North America in the 1950s. The Arctic Early years In August 1935, the Soviet aviator Sigizmund Levanevsky and his two crewmen attempted a transpolar flight from Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union to San Francisco, California. The flight was aborted because of technical issues before they reached the North Pole. In 1936, Levanevsky and navigator Victor Levchenko completed a more-than- multistage flight from Los Angeles to Moscow in a Vultee V-1A floatplane, thus proving the possibility of an air route between the United States and the Soviet Union via the Bering Strait. Another Soviet pilot Valery Chkalov and his crew were the first to fly non-stop from Europe to the American Pacific Coast. from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington, United States, via the North Pole on a Tupolev ANT-25 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
