Pine Bark Pill That Beats DVT ;

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Pine Bark Pill That Beats DVT ;

Good Health Provided by Daily Mail on 3/2/2004

by MARTYN HALLE

 

 

 

 

A Pill made from pine bark can provide a safe way to protect travellers from

potentially fatal DVT.

 

Only patients diagnosed as at risks of deep vein thrombosis can get

anti-clotting drugs for use during travel. The alternative has been to take

aspirin before flying.

However, aspirin can cause stomach bleeding and also prevent wounds from

healing.

But Pycnogenol - made from the bark of pine trees found on the south-west coast

of France - has been found to be as effective as aspirin without the risk of

intestinal bleeding.

Several chemicals in the bark are high in antioxidants, which are known to

prevent blood platelets forming clots that cause DVTs. (Grape seed exract is

almost the same thing. Vitamin E should be very good also. Frank)

Dr Ronald Watson, of the University of Arizona Medical School, carried out

trials with smokers, who are at increased risk of DVT. He said pine bark pills

thinned their blood back to what it had been prior to them lighting up for the

trial.

He says: 'You won't find many doctors advocating the casual use of aspirin now.

The risk of bleeding is relatively high in relation to the risk of having a

clot.

'Substances like pine bark are safer and just as efficient, it would seem, as

aspirin or, possibly, the prescription drugs used for people with a diagnosed

risk of DVT.'

Once it was thought DVT affected only long-distance travellers in economy class.

But a recent study of flights between Stansted and Italy found that clots can

develop in the first two to three hours of a flight - putting most people at

risk. Clots were found in 4.3 per cent of the high-risk flyers.

Separate research by the Aviation Health Institute found that, out of the 85 DVT

related deaths in the past three years, one in five occurred after a short-haul

flight.

Those at increased risk of DVTs include people with health problems such as

heart disease and pregnant women.

Passengers going on short or long-haul flights should drink plenty of water, try

to exercise their legs during the flight at regular intervals, and refrain from

alcohol or coffee.

LAURA THOMAS, 27, who is married with a 20-month-old daughter, started taking

Pycnogenol recently in preparation for a 10-hour flight to Florida for a family

holiday.

Laura (pictured) and her husband Mark, 33, from Worthing,West Sussex, went on a

24-hour flight to China for their honeymoon four years ago. She says: 'At the

time DVT was hardly known and so we took no precautions.We were cramped up in

our seats for hours on end.' 'I now know that I am at increased risk because I

am on the Pill. And into the bargain I have developed high blood pressure since

the birth of my child. So taking something to lower the risk makes sense.' CASE

HISTORY

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