Beckham warned over flight health risks

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

LONDON (AFP) — England star David Beckham has been warned of the potentially career-threatening health risks he will run as a result of his commute from Los Angeles next season.

Beckham faces frequent long-haul flights if he continues to play for England while with the LA Galaxy.

And aviation health expert Farrol Kahn warned: "It puts him in the high risk category for getting deep-vein thrombosis (DVT).

"That would ruin that leg for life - you simply could not use it again."

Kahn told BBC Sport: "They've done studies of rapid deployment forces in the US military who have to fly long distances and then fight.

"In these young males, sprint times were reduced by 10percent, lift and carry tasks by 9 percent and logical reasoning skills by 15...