Crohn's disease

[Jerra]

I have just been diagnosed as having Crohn's disease, for which I have been prescribed Entocort and Pentasa. i am a wannabe, that has just passed his Class 1 medical. Do I have to tell the CAA? Will this put a stop to my change in career?

Thank you for your help.

[Barclaycard]

A very good friend of mine was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at a very young age and to be honest it has been a very debilitating experience for him. That said I know another guy who wasn't diagnosed with the disease until his mid-twenties and he seems to get on just fine with life. I assume (although I don't know) that there is different grades of severity of Crohn's and hence people are affected in different ways.

Unfortunately I think you will have to tell the CAA as this will likely affect you overall fitness and ability to fly! Having said that, wait to see what others on this forum say.

[flying doc]

Jerra,

I read of your recent diagnosis of Crohn's Disease. From a medical point of view let me give you some more information on it:

Crohn's Disease is an inflammatory bowel disease which can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract (which begins in the mouth and ends in the anus) It is typicaly diagnosed during young adulthood and most sufferers are smokers.

What actually happens is that a part of your gastrointestinal tract (commonly referred to as your gut) develops what are like mouth ulcers. The area becomes inflamed and thickened in comparison to normal GI tissue surrounding it. The most commonly affected sites are the area of gut at the end of you small intestine or the area of gut at the very beginning of your large intestine (the colon).

Now, I shall be honest with my reply to you. Crohn's Disease differs in every case but often involves pain, diarrhoea and weight loss. These conditions, though not life threatening, are not entirely condusive with commercial flying BUT are often well controlled with medication. I have met a gentleman who had no problems whatsoever because he, individually, responded well to medication.

More severe symptoms and consequences are, however, possible and for these reasons I feel the CAA need to be aware of your condition. I do not know exactly whether or not this will preclude you from Class 1 recertification but I would recommend that you call them and ask for a private discussion with the Chief Medical Officer. At this stage you will not have to disclose your name if you do not want to and please remember that all medical staff are bound by their professions to keep all medical information confidential.

I would also suggest that before you do telephone the CAA that you discuss with either your physician or surgeon the extent and site of your condition and ask him/her any medical questions that you may have. Once armed with as much information as you can get (I stress that the condition is different in every patient) call the CMO at Aviation House.

If there is anything else that I can do to help you please do not hesitate to get in touch. This is all genuine information and I wish you all the very best for what is left of Christmas and New Year.

Many kind regards,

Flying Doc

[ShyTorque]

Unfortunately you are obliged to tell the CAA. Each time you fill in the Class 1 paperwork you are required to sign to say that you have no medical conditions not previously declared.

Best of luck, hope all is OK.

[hansi]

I have Crohn's and have had several chats with caa medical at Gatwick. They are thoroughly nice people who really seemed to want to help.
I think you will find that as you already have a class 1 medical there is no immediate panic.
The feds view when I called up was that as I already had a medical there was no problem.
Crohn's comes and goes throughout life, the average gap between attacks of Crohnes is about 7 years and there is basically no reason to have to stop flying while it is in remission. Whilst having an attack one may have to stop flying whilst on drugs or post-operative but these are normally short bursts.
So saying Crohnes is different for everyone and there is a wide range of possible outcomes. Best thing to do is chat to Gatwick directly, its the only way to get a concrete answer for your specific case.
Hope this helps.