Aviat Space Envir Md
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Aviat Space Envir Md · Mar 1998
Effects of elevated carbon dioxide environment on calcium metabolism in humans.
Chronic respiratory acidosis induced by an elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) environment should provoke hypercalciuria with related total body and subsequent bone calcium losses. We examined this hypothesis in four healthy male volunteers, who were exposed during a 25-d period to an 0.7% CO2 environment within a deep diving isolation chamber. Three months later the same subjects were reexamined during a second campaign being exposed to a 1.2% CO2 atmosphere. ⋯ Elevated CO2 atmosphere may dose-dependently preserve body calcium without a parallel improvement of bone substance.
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Aviat Space Envir Md · Mar 1998
Historical ArticleThe history of the United States Navy flight surgeon/naval aviator program.
Early in the history of aviation the need for a special kind of physician who could understand the physical and psychological problems encountered by flyers was well recognized. These physicians were called flight surgeons. In 1922, RADM W. ⋯ Moffett, USN, the first Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and the "Father of Naval Aviation," called for a group of Navy medical officers to be trained as flight surgeons. He believed that all Navy flight surgeons should be trained as pilots "primarily in order that they may experience the emergencies and conditions that arise in flying." This article traces the history of the Navy flight surgeon/naval aviator. It chronicles the evolution of the Navy's flight surgeon/naval aviator program from the World War I doctor who flew seaplanes at a Naval Air Station in Italy to the present day flight surgeon/naval aviator who flys operational and test aircraft as a research pilot.
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Aviat Space Envir Md · Mar 1998
Case ReportsCarotid artery dissection presenting as a painless Horner's syndrome in a pilot: fit to fly?
We describe a case of a middle-aged Caucasian pilot who presented to us with a painless left Horner's syndrome due to a focal dissection of the infra-petrous portion of the ipsilateral internal carotid artery. He did not suffer symptoms of cerebral ischemia at the time of onset, or during the following 2 yr. ⋯ The literature suggests that the risk of stroke after onset of dissection is usually in the first month, and the risk of recurrence of dissection is about 1% per year after the first year. Our patient was prescribed aspirin 300 mg.d-1, and certified to fly as or with a co-pilot commencing 1 yr after onset of his symptoms.