Travel smart

There's nothing like the trials and tribulations of a celebrity to raise awareness of a health issue. Take Cheryl Cole, for instance. When Cheryl developed malaria after travelling to Tanzania last summer, she may well have helped other travellers avoid the disease because magazines and newspapers were full of information about it while she was ill.

In fact statistics suggest one in three Brits asked for advice about malaria before travelling abroad themselves as a result of Cheryl's battle with malaria. And that's good news, since it's believed that around 1,900 people in this country come back from their holidays with malaria every year (making the UK one of the biggest importers of malaria in Europe).

There's still more work to be done, however. According to the Malaria Awareness Campaign, 57 percent of people in the UK still don't know that the symptoms of malaria include sweats, chills, high temperature, aches and pains, headache, coughing and diarrhoea (in other words, the symptoms are very similar to that of the flu).

So if you're visiting or travelling through a country where there may be a risk of malaria - including many parts of Africa, Asia, Central and South America (find out exactly where at www.malariahotspots.co.uk) - arm yourself with the information you need to know, including the symptoms to watch out for and when, and make sure you start taking malaria tablets a couple of weeks before you go away.

For instance, you may not realise that malaria symptoms can develop weeks or even months after your holiday, or that the best way to avoid malaria is to use insect repellent and keep your skin covered between sunset and sunrise to prevent getting bitten by a mosquito.

Whatever questions you have, your pharmacist can help - including advice on antimalarial medicines.

Travel jabs

Malaria isn't the only problem you need to be prepared for when you travel. Certain countries also carry a risk of diseases including typhoid, hepatitis A and B, tuberculosis and yellow fever. So if you're travelling to a developing or tropical part of the world, also ask your pharmacist about travel vaccinations you might need.

There are different jabs for different parts of the world, so make sure you know which are the correct ones to have. You may also need a vaccination certificate before you're allowed into certain countries, so don't forget to pack that too.

Deep vein thrombosis

A deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is essentially a blood clot in one of the deep veins, most typically in the calf muscle. It's also often called economy class syndrome, as sitting for long periods of time in an aeroplane increases your risk. But you don't have to be travelling by air, as spending long periods of time in a car, train or bus/coach can also increase your risk for a DVT.

Most importantly, if a DVT is untreated, it can travel to the lungs where it can be life-threatening.

Some people are also more at risk of developing a DVT than others - for instance, if you have a family or personal history of DVT or cardiac problems, clotting problems or stroke, if you've recently had major surgery, if you are overweight, a smoker, take hormone-based contraceptives, have varicose veins, are pregnant or are over the age of 40. However, most cases of DVT are linked to at least three of these risk factors.

Ask your pharmacist about reducing your risk for DVT by wearing flight socks while you're travelling, especially if you're going to be sitting still for long periods at a time.