Clinical Aviation Medicine (4th ed)

Aviation was born almost a century ago. Today we have at our disposal an array of flying machines ranging from a single-prop driven to 8-engine jet aircraft. Some are used for commercial purposes, some for military operations, and some for pleasure and recreation. No matter the type of aviation, physiological stresses will always be imposed to varying degrees on the operators. Consequently, there must be established medical standards to ensure that only fit operators receive flight certification. Because commercial, military, and private (general) aviation are so different, medical standards for each must necessarily also be different.
It is the responsibility of the civil aviation medical examiner (AME) and military flight surgeon (FS) to determine fitness to fly or aeromedical disposition. In order to do so, it is necessary to have an understanding of the stresses of flight, aircraft operations, general medicine, and the appropriate medical standards. This book provides guidance to AMEs and flight surgeons, particularly inexperienced ones, who must determine aeromedical disposition, by discussing the more common disease entities and treatment modalities with particular emphasis on their significance in an aviation environment. The first, second, and third editions of Clinical Aviation Medicine were published in 1982, 1990, and 2000 respectively. During these 2&1/2 decades, many physicians, civil and military, in the practice of aviation medicine or in teaching and administering aviation medicine programs have conveyed to me how useful the book was to them. It is for the continuing support of these readers, as well as all other AMEs and flight surgeons, that prompted this fourth edition. of Clinical Aviation Medicine.
In general, the authors have updated references and added new material in many areas such as multiple sclerosis, deep venous thrombosis, bleeding peptic ulcer disease, glaucoma, hepatitis, HIV, coronary artery and valvular disease, sleep disorders, and mild cognitive impairment to mention a few. Furthermore, a new chapter has been written by Jeb Pickard, M.D. entitled Therapeutic Medications in the Aviator, which includes a section on herbals. The book was further demilitarized so the principles could be applied not only to aviation in the armed forces, but also to civil aviation at home and abroad. As in the first three editions, painstaking efforts were taken not to dictate aeromedical disposition, but only to provide the AME and flight surgeon with the information that is clinically relevant when making decisions regarding flight certification.