Announcement of a unique and preventative measure against Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), created for airline passengers concerned about contracting DVT from long haul flights.

A South African company, specialising in indigenous botanical skin care products, The Renewal Centre, who bill themselves as South Africa's antidote to Stress, today announced their development of a unique and preventative measure against Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), the scourge of airlines, created for airline passengers concerned about contracting DVT from long haul flights. In deep vein thrombosis a blood clot forms in one of the veins deep inside the leg. It can occur at any age but is much more common in older people. The clot may break away from its position and travel through the heart to the lung where it may cause severe symptoms which can result in death. The risk of developing DVT, which can of course occur quite independently from air travel, is very strongly linked to age. It is uncommon in young people and very common in the elderly. If air travel is considered in isolation, studies have shown that 3-5% of travellers develop clots in veins. Some are asymptomatic, or occur with mild symptoms. Of great concern is that in 2001 the medical journal Lancet published an analysis estimating that two million cases of DVT occurred in the US each year and that a million could be attributed to air travel, with a total of 100,00 fatalities attributed to flying. (Published in the Lancet (9/8/01).

Cabin pressures simulate an altitude of 5000-8000 feet in various aircraft types; reducing oxygen pressure from 98 to 79 mmHg as calculated for a Boeing 747 and it has been calculated that this can lead to 90% saturation of haemoglobin with oxygen; a figure that may be reduced even further by sleep and the effects of cramped conditions on respiratory mobility. Cabin humidity falls rapidly after take off and its potential effect on factors like dehydration is currently controversial. In individuals with other respiratory problems, reduced oxygen saturation can lead to a chain of events in their blood which favours clotting. A Norwegian study published by Bendz et al in the Lancet in 11th Nov 2000, put 20 young men in a hypobaric chamber, which simulated usual aircraft cabin altitude. It was found in the Norwegian study that a substantial hour-by-hour increase in blood clotting factors occurred in all of the healthy subjects. There was a 2-8 fold increase in clotting factors and the implication is that all flyers are subject to this increased risk, suggesting that those who succumbed to DVT have a variety of risk factors deriving from their own genetic and physiological make-up, and their environmental circumstances. A study by the UK-based Aviation Health Institute found that 17% of flight-related DVT cases occurred in association with short flights, plus it has been demonstrated that the duration of travel is not linked to the severity of the thrombosis suffered. (Parsi et. al. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Phlebology June 2001). In short, the airline industry is under ever increasing pressure to find effective ways for passengers at risk of contracting Deep Vein Thrombosis.

The development of the Vinetherapy In-Flight Kit, by the South African Renewal Centre, was as a result of studies done on long haul flights, as the world's longest commercial flight is between New York and Johannesburg, as well as what natural precautions could be taken by both the airline and the passenger, to minimise the risk of DVT. The Renewal Centres also offer the services of a unique South African Renewal Experience, using indigenous botanical oils and extracts while travelling, to and from South Africa, based out of South African Airways First Class Lounges. The five specialised massage treatments have been carefully designed to relax and soothe the senses of the long haul traveller, in need of renewal and relaxation, prior to their embarkation of a 12 hour flight. More importantly, the "laying on of hands" by a specially trained South African therapist and the utilisation of natural botanical extracts and essential oils, indigenous to South Africa, have been combined to impart a remarkable long lasting therapeutic and memorable South African experience, prior to the traveller even arriving in South Africa.

The Renewal Centres knowledge and research of international business and leisure travellers and of South Africa's indigenous medicinal plants, combined with the well known effects of resveratrol and grape seed extract, both of which contain the active bioflavonoid called proanthocyanidins (OPC's), which helps strengthen capillaries, and enhances blood flow, resulted in the development of a world first from South Africa, the In-flight Renewal Vinetherapy™ Kit. The In-flight Renewal Vinetherapy™ Kit, contains 4 patented sachets, which crack in the middle, exuding a clear gel for each of the Face, Hands, Feet and Legs. A wine coloured Pinotage Hydrating gel for the Face and Hands and a Pinotage Stimulating, Circulatory gel for each of the Feet and Legs. The plus to airlines of course, is that each of the passengers receives a playing card sized flip top box with the 4 sachets, so that each passenger can counter the effects of dehydration and slow circulation in the feet and legs, themselves.

The Renewal VineTherapy™ products ingredients have been carefully selected and prepared with immense care over the years, by the world's best South African viticulturists. The range is based on the highest quality cold pressed Grape-seed oil extracts of the Pinotage grape variety which contains extremely high concentrations of grape-seed polyphenols. The indigenous medicinal botanical essential oils in the Renewal VineTherapy™ products, are natural and organically grown in the Western Cape area around Cape Town South Africa and great care has been taken to ensure that they are gentle and safe for everyday use. None of the products contain alcohol, plus they are free from animal derivatives and are not tested on animals.

The Renewal Vinetherapy™ In-flight kit, from South Africa, offers the combination of the simplest of natural massage therapies with indigenous medicinal botanical products and has caught the attention of airlines the world over, as they struggle in their search for solutions to combatting Deep Vein Thrombosis.