Background: Type 2 diabetes has a growing prevalence and confers significant cost burden to the health care system, raising the urgent need for cost-effective and easily accessible solutions. The management of type 2 diabetes requires significant commitment from the patient, caregivers, and the treating team to optimize clinical outcomes and prevent complications. Technology and its implications for the management of type 2 diabetes is a nascent area of research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKetamine is a rapidly acting general anesthetic which is globally used in surgical analgesia, as well as in the management of pain. It is also used as a recreational drug. Because of its widespread use in surgical settings, the use of this drug presents an aeromedical problemin addition, of course, to the underlying condition for which it has been used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAerosp Med Hum Perform
September 2017
Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interfere with functioning and/or development. ADHD occurs in about 2.5% of adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: One of the most difficult challenges in aviation medicine is to diagnose, as early as possible, pilots with psychiatric disorders that may impair pilot performance and increase the risk of incidents and accidents. This diagnosis applies particularly to bipolar disorder (BD), where return to flying duty is not an option in the majority of cases. BD is a long-term mental disorder presenting remittent depressive, hypomanic, manic, or mixed episodes between low symptomatic or asymptomatic intermediate periods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In 2012 the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare produced a report titled 'Dementia in Australia.'(2) The report noted that the number of people with dementia in Australia would reach almost 400,000 by 2020. Australia is a jurisdiction which does not impose a mandatory retirement age for pilots.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile there is literature which describes aeromedical decision making (ADM), there is not much which describes a process identifying the steps to be taken in arriving at such decisions. A five-step algorithm is proposed to clarify the ADM process. The five steps are: 1) determine the likelihood of a clinically significant event from the health condition; 2) determine the likelihood of an undesirable aviation event from the health condition; 3) determine the acceptability of the combined risks (#1 and #2); 4) determine the risk level after clinical intervention for the health condition; and 5) determine the risk level after operational restrictions for the health condition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAviat Space Environ Med
October 2013
Acute renal colic is an incapacitating condition. Advances in understanding the pathogenesis of calculi and their detection and treatment require a new approach to aeromedical risk assessment. Can this new information support the stratification of aeromedical risk into "High" and "Low" categories, and fulfill the paramount responsibility of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Australia's aviation regulator, which isthe maintenance of aviation safety? This article reviews the epidemiology of calculi and finds 2-10% annual risk of a symptomatic event following incidental detection of a calculus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAviat Space Environ Med
September 2012
Safety issues are paramount in aviation and careful treatment protocols have been developed to ensure fitness to fly among aviators recovering from major depressive episodes (MDE). Aeromedical examiners (AMEs) do not necessarily treat depressive patients frequently, so they often consult psychiatrists; however, psychiatrists are rarely familiar with aviator treatment protocols. U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAviat Space Environ Med
May 2011
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a problematic diagnosis in the context of aeromedical certification. Certain characteristics of the disorder such as impaired attention potentially affect the safe conduct of flying. Pharmacological treatment with stimulants also has issues surrounding short half-lives and effects on the recognition of fatigue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhether pilots with insulin-dependent diabetes should be allowed to fly has long been a controversial issue. Hypoglycaemia remains a significant threat to flight safety, and a barrier for pilots with insulin-dependent diabetes to overcome. Some countries allow recreational pilots to fly while treated with insulin under strict conditions.
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