Diabetes and Military Aviation

[nkhwazi]

As a serving military pilot it looks like I may have early signs of diabetes, are my flying days over?:(

[Fill 2 fool]

Think it could be poss. Depends on the type.Full blown insulin dep, then party's over-civvy and mil.However not sure about type 2 - diet controlled, no lard, DCS, or Baileys!!!

[Woff1965]

If you have had a urine test that shows a positive for glucose it may have just been a "trace". I had a positive on 2 occasions, the first was due to a "wonky" batch of test strips the second was down to me having a sweet breakfast ie coffee with sugar and a chocolate muffin(huge) for breakfast.

I would suggest you have a further test done before panicking. If you definitely have glucose in your urine I suggest you discuss the matter with your GP immediately.

[BlueWolf]

Woff is right, there can be false alarms. But what do you mean by early signs? My former partner was type one for the last six odd years I was with her, I went through everything with her from early signs, through diagnosis, treatment, etc, so I know a little about it. If I can help at all I'm more than happy to.

And certainly you should talk to the Doc if you have any cause for concern.

Good luck; private me if you're more comfortable with that.

[Spot 4]

Early signs of Diabetes usually revolve around excessive thirst rather than a strip with a trace. The strips that are mutli coloured will give a "depth" of trace, ie differant colours in relation to the ammount of sugar present. These days most diabetics use a small and inexpensive blood checking machine which gives a digital readout. I think they are available for purchase at larger Boots stores if you want to monitor your sugar levels acurately.

All out Diabetes and being in contol of a machine is dangerous as you will not get any warnings of an insulin reaction attack, and onlookers will think that you had one drink too many. As an 11 year old I found my mother in such a state, and it was pretty frightening.

A mate in a ground job had a posting to Cyprus cancelled (after arriving there!) due to a diagnosis of diet controlled diabetes recently.

[DutchRoll]

Depends.

Type 1 diabetes (insulin dependant) is not compatible with any military flying to my knowledge, and understandably so. There are a few pilots with Type 1 who are flying in the civilian world, but the special licence conditions are very restrictive (FAA requires hourly in-flight blood sugar checks, among many other things). I assume they only fly privately too.

Type 2 (non-insulin dependant or 'adult onset'): I don't know about the military flying, but military flying medical standards are pretty high in most places, so unfortunately flying may not be possible with this either. It is something you would have to check in your own organisation. In the civil world it is possible to fly without special conditions on your licence, depending upon how well the Type 2 diabetes can be controlled (ie, through diet and exercise).

Sorry I couldn't post any better news.

[MightyGem]

I know an AAC pilot who continued to fly with type two. Initially grounded but when diet and exercise got it under control, he was back flying.

[DutchRoll]

Further to my last, nkhwazi, I've got some info from 'the horse's mouth'. In the RAAF at least, the likely outcome (notwithstanding appeals, current heirarchy, etc) is:

Type 1 - discharge on medical gounds.
Type 2 - used to be a discharge also, on the basis that 'in the field', dietary/exercise control may not be possible or practical. Whether this is still the case or not, I'm not sure. It is possible that such a case was appealed some time ago, but I don't know any results.

However, the same 'horses' mouth' also said that they'd be loathe to predict the outcomes of medical board reviews these days, as there have been some surprising decisions both for & against various conditions.