Air travel brings with it some unique medical problems, especially for those of us who are more than mere teenagers. Perhaps the biggest problem is really pretty subtle and easy to miss, but also easy to address. It is dehydration. The humidity on an airplane is extremely low. You loose water mainly through breathing that dry air. Imbibing alcoholic drinks (even free ones) adds to the water loss. No real problem with taking on a little alcohol to help you relax or sleep. Just try to balance that with some plain old water as well. Keeping well-hydrated, will also lessen the effects of jet-lag at the end of those never-ending flights.

Next is a problem that has seen a lot of attention in the press lately = blood clots or deep vein thrombosis. Keeping well hydrated actually helps with this one too. But more importantly, get up and move around a bit. This problem has also been called "economy seating syndrome". When your knees are up near your ears and you can’t cross your legs, you are at risk. Put one and two together = get up once an hour or so and walk to the galley and get that drink. Make the first one a glass of water if the second is a beer or the like!

When packing for your trip, be sure that you carry your meds with you inside the cabin. Don’t take a chance on being separated from them. You and your luggage may not end up in the same place at the same time. Put them in your carry on! This is especially true is you are taking meds for any heart ailment or for blood-clotting problems.

One thing you need NOT worry too much about is infectious diseases. Although there have been documented cases of air-borne diseases such as chicken-pox and TB being spread on airplanes, that same dry air and the rapid changeover of the volume of air in the plane usually lowers the risks of spreading germs to an very low level.

Stay safe and healthy