RAF Policy on misdisagnosed Asthma

[WillingPilot]

Hi

I was 'diagnosed' with Asthma aged 15/16. However, my GP is now investigating a misdiagnosis as a sudden change of me eating a particular type of food has lead to all my symptoms disappearing.

I have stopped eating a food which contained a lot of oil (cultural food) and now I have no issues at all.

Previously, the GP stopped my preventors as they caused more issues than stop them. So I haven't been taking them at all.

I don't use my blue inhalers at all as I don't need to.

So what is the RAF's policy on misdisagnosed Asthma? Which basically means I did not have asthma but the coupging I was getting was due to oil that I would eat.

I know it sounds odd, however, the food is 'curry' my mum would use a lot of oil and being a nipper it became normal for me to eat it.

Now of course, being 21 I make sure I am fit and healthy!

Any advice?

Cheeers

[WillingPilot]

I know that the policy for Asthma is 4 years for ground crew (thats a maybe) and for air crew is complete NULL!

[Timelord]

I know that any reference to asthma on your records will be a severe problem for an application to be aircrew. At the very least you will need a letter from your GP confirming that you never actually had it.

[WillingPilot]

Thanks Timelord. This is the very reason I have asked the question here.

Thank you for your reply, if anyone else has any information please do let me know.

[lj101]

Medical records - England factsheets - MPS UK

Additions or alterations

If you need to add something to a medical record or make a correction, make sure you enter the date of the amendment and include your name, so no one can accuse you of trying to pass off the amended entry as contemporaneous. Do not obliterate an entry that you wish to correct – run a single line through it so it can still be read.

Patients have the right, under the Data Protection Act (DPA), to ask for factual inaccuracies in the record to be rectified or deleted. The Act does not, however, give them the right to ask for entries expressing professional opinions to be changed. You should only comply with a request if you are satisfied that it is valid – ie, the entry is indeed factually inaccurate, but if you decide that a correction is not warranted, you should still annotate the disputed entry with the patient’s view.

If you decide that the request is valid, add a signed and dated supplementary note to correct the inaccuracy and make it clear that the correction is being made at the patient’s request. Avoid deleting the original entry, though. If the patient demands nothing less than deletion, then this should be done in exceptional cases – and only then in paper records, never electronic. This must be discussed fully with the patient.

[Canadian Break]

asthma

Many,many years ago I was stupid (honest?) enough to admit that I suffered from Hayfever on my OASC application. Unsurprisingly, they wrote back saying "sorry, woukld you like to apply for another branch (or 3) other than aircrew? I went back to the specialist who had done my original allergy tests - couldn't get an appointment so simply sat outside his office for hours and then "doorstepped" him - apologising profusely but explaining my predicament. Long story short - he wrote to the RAF on my behalf, explaining in detail the tests he had done - they considered it and then sent a young CB an invitation to OASC for pilot aptitude tests. The rest, as they say, is history.

My point in telling you this ? if you want something enough then go for it - simply by doing so you are displaying your determination to thiose people whi will make the ultimate decision

Good Luck.

[create_it83]

The only people who can answer this definitively are the people at the various selection boards, who can examine your records properly.

I doubt anyone would "remove" it from your records, but it may be appropriate for additional notes to be added, to refute the original diagnosis.

Bear in mind that a food allergy is probably a complete bar to military service.

[E-Spy]

Unfortunately you need to be able to eat curry prior to the decompression chamber run

Seriously though, good luck in your efforts

[teeteringhead]

Unfortunately you need to be able to eat curry prior to the decompression chamber run

...and always accompanied by Ruddles when it was at North Luff.

[muppetofthenorth]

Your problem may change now, though, rather than go away. Food allergies are frowned upon, might be worth investigating that side of things.

[Rosevidney1]

Did you apply to the RAF or the Pakistani Air Force? If the former your ailment will be recorded, if the latter you will have to watch what you eat.

[WillingPilot]

The thing is guys it's not a food allergy. It was me eating excessive oil and made a norm out of it. It wasn't a breathing problem anyway but more or a couph to clear my throat.

Also, the doctor is investigating a pet allergy that could have occurred since moving homes I don't have any cAts anymore and since then everything has disappeared!

Not applying to PAF I don't know why I was thinking that maybe because I spent some time there and saw all the f16s being trained on!

[Trim Stab]

I cannot understand why the RAF disqualify potential aircrew recruits because of childhood asthma (which is involuntary, the causes poorly understood, and rarely recurs in adulthood), yet the RAF continues to recruit and employ aircrew who smoke tobacco (which is a lifestyle choice which demonstrably causes immediate performance degradation and medium term health degradation). If the RAF were to immediately announce a service wide tobacco ban then the childhood asthma ban might make more sense.

[stuminisprite]

i was RAF trade group 1 groundcrew and was misdiagnosed for 10 years with asthma and i was quote "not going to have my next contract extended past 12 years due to asthma". once i had pvr'd and had a little chat with the british legion they admitted they had contributed to the condition and gave me a small compensation payout.

i feel well hard done by to be honest.

[Alister101]

I'm not in the RAF, however if you never had Asthma, then you never had it. When the RAF have you give a report to your GP, your doctor will look at your medical history and your medical notes page. If it has misdiagnosis, it says exactly what it is on the tin. You didnt have it.

[NutLoose]

Your problem may change now, though, rather than go away. Food allergies are frowned upon, might be worth investigating that side of things.

They used to get around that in the RAF by destroying anything that could possibly construed as food in the cooking process.

[SeaKingDriver]

Morning WillingPilot,

I applied to the Fleet Air Arm with misdiagnosed childhood asthma. On successful completion of AIB and FATs, they just gave me some additional medical tests at the Institute for Naval Medicine in Gosport. They proved I never actually had it and I got my joining date.

As I understand it the medical joining requirements are still the same so give it a punt and best of luck!

SKDriver

[Agaricus bisporus]

I too joined the FAA with childhood asthma and they made no mention of it - presumably the lung function tests were satisfactory.

Some years later on applying for a CAA Class 1 medical the consultant gave me a spirometer test (I'd never had one of those before, even in the Navy I'm sure) which was marginal, went out for some minutes and came back saying you can go home now, no Class 1 now or ever!

I appealed, cited my RN service but the "doctor" in charge of the CAA medical system was an ex-crab with a complete blockage on Asthma despite there being nothing in the book that specifically says it is a stopper. Absolute stonewall. I took some outside advice which showed the CAA had to reassess me if I wanted it (this was before I learned not to believe what the CAA tell you and check yourself), fittened up my pulmonary functions and reapplied to the CAA some months later. Results of tests fine. Results of examining doctor going to tell the Ch. Med pillock about it? A furious 10 minute shouting match that could be heard through half the building, followed by my examiner coming out looking ashen and saying he'd had to put his career on the line to persuade the geriatric old fart that he had no grounds to refuse my medical.

The CAA never mentioned the subject again.

Asthma can be a contentious thing, but as long as it was childhood asthma and your lung function tests are acceptable there should be no reason for it to be a stopper. Depending on the doctor involved, of course...

[mymatetcm]

Best thing to do is apply and then at your medical the Capita GP will request your records to check your eligibility with your GP.

[Jimlad1]

There is also a tendency on GPs to diagnose an inhaler as an early precautionary measure, when Asthma may not actually happen. I had a lot of asthma like symptoms earlier this year, and it was only a lot of further work to identify that it wasn't Asthma but GERD (a stomach reflux) which has extremely similar physical symptoms but for which an inhaler makes no difference.

Problem is that my Doctor kept saying 'Asthma, take the inhaler' and looking at me when I was mad for saying 'nope'!