For many people, retirement means traveling. After working so hard for so long, getting to see the world can be an exciting and enjoyable way to spend your golden years. But for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an incurable and progressive lung disease that’s often the result of years of smoking and is more common in older adults, traveling to far-flung locations can seem like an unrealizable dream.
Because COPD leaves patients breathless much of the time, it often makes routine activities challenging and travel even more so. Traveling with COPD can be particularly difficult if you’re flying to your vacation destination. A 2010 study in the journal Respiratory Medicine found that 25 percent of COPD patients experienced hypoxia-related symptoms while traveling by air compared to just 9 percent of study participants who did not have COPD. Hypoxia occurs when not enough oxygen reaches tissues and cells, and it can cause shortness of breath, decreased ability to engage in physical activity, wheezing and coughing, and a bluish discoloration of the skin.
[See: 7 Lifestyle Tips to Manage Your Asthma.]
The study also found that COPD patients who traveled by air “had a more than three-fold higher risk of experiencing hypoxia-related symptoms than those without COPD. For the respiratory symptoms, dyspnea or air hunger, the risk was nearly seven-fold.” Dyspnea refers to shortness of breath.
But travel doesn’t have to be such a challenge or a scary experience, says Dr. David Beuther, a pulmonologist and associate professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver. “We’re trying to get people away from the idea that ‘I can’t do this, and I can’t do that. I can’t travel, I can’t go to the soccer game, I’m too short of breath.’ We spend a lot of time trying to shift the thinking to ‘how can I travel?’ Sometimes the answer is ‘no,’ but more often than not, it’s ‘what preparation is needed?'”
Many COPD patients — even those who are on supplemental oxygen as part of their treatment — can still travel, even by air. But the way to do it safely and without increasing risk of hospitalization for an exacerbation, a worsening of your COPD, is through preparation and opening up communication with your doctor about your plans. The Respiratory Medicine study found that a mere 5.9 percent of the 391 study participants with COPD had consulted with their physicians prior to traveling by air.
Although you may not need supplemental oxygen under normal circumstances, it’s important to remember that while traveling by air, the air pressure in the cabin mimics the lower-oxygen environment that’s found at elevations of 5,000 to 8,000 feet, says Dr. Umur Hatipoglu, director of the COPD Center at the Respiratory Institute at Cleveland Clinic. If you’re already on oxygen therapy, speak with your doctor about whether you’ll need to increase your oxygen flow during the trip. If you don’t use oxygen normally or have not traveled recently, speak with your doctor about whether or not you’ll need oxygen on the plane.
“You may not need oxygen at sea level, but you might actually need that in that pressurized cabin in the sky,” Hatipoglu says. This is because there’s simply less oxygen in the air at that altitude, which can make breathing difficult for some people. “Even though you may have normal oxygen at sea level, you’re not going to have the same level of oxygen in your blood in the cabin,” which can create problems, Hatipoglu says. Your pulmonologist can test you for that before you fly and help you develop a plan for dealing with it if it could become an issue. “We have guidelines for in-flight oxygen therapy, and patients can be reassured that if they abide by the guidelines in the evaluation, they’ll be fine traveling,” he says.
If you need to travel with oxygen, Hatipoglu says, it’s “actually not that difficult,” but requires a call to the airline ahead of time to find out whether they can accommodate you. Oxygen is highly flammable, so as a safety precaution, “you cannot travel with your oxygen on the plane.” In their place, airlines “have portable [oxygen] concentrators that can be rented or are approved that you’ll have to take on board,” he says.
[See: 16 Ways Your Body Adjusts to a New Climate.]
In addition, regardless of whether you drove, arrived by ship or flew there, depending on where you’re headed, your ability to breathe comfortably once you reach your destination can be impacted. Fumes and air pollution can make breathing more difficult for COPD patients, so urban traveling may pose a greater challenge than heading for a rural setting. Plus, the higher the altitude at your vacation location, the more likely you’ll experience breathing difficulties. This means if you’re headed to the mountains or to Denver, for example, you may need supplemental oxygen or another adjustment to your treatment plan while you’re visiting.
Beyond oxygen, it’s critical to make sure you have enough of all of your medications in hand for the duration of the trip before you take off, says Dr. Evan Stepp, a pulmonologist and assistant professor in the department of medicine in the division of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver. “This isn’t just specific to COPD medications,” Stepp says, but extends to any and all medications you’re taking.
You should also “make sure you’re up-to-date on all your vaccinations. The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommends a flu vaccination every year,” for everyone six months and older, Stepp says. You should also be sure your pneumococcal vaccination is current. That’s the shot that can prevent pneumonia, a common cause of COPD exacerbations. The CDC now recommends that all adults over age 65 get vaccinated with two different pneumonia vaccines about a year apart. Some doctors will recommend you get a booster again in five to 10 years depending on your overall health.
[See: 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Lung Cancer.]
These simple preventive measures can go a long way toward making your journey more enjoyable, Stepp says, because “travel usually involves some stage or another where you’ll be setting foot in a petri dish of sorts. You may be waiting in a crowded area,” surrounded by lots of people with lots of germs that could make you sick.
Lastly, Stepp says that “if you’re having a flare-up of your disease, that’s not a good time to travel.” He says that traveling can put more stress on the lungs, so if you’re already experiencing an exacerbation of any sort, “that’s a good reason to delay the trip until the illness has settled down.”
More from U.S. News
7 Lifestyle Tips to Manage Your Asthma
7 Things You Didn’t Know About Lung Cancer
16 Ways Your Body Adjusts to a New Climate
How Can I Make Traveling With COPD Easier? originally appeared on usnews.com
