Aviation Medicine

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 60. Chapters: Hypoxia, Decompression sickness, Jet lag, Flight surgeon, Air ambulance, Uncontrolled decompression, Aerotoxic syndrome, Barotrauma, Saudi Red Crescent Authority, Valsalva maneuver, G-suit, JAR-FCL, Fear of flying, Aerosinusitis, Armstrong Limit, Traveller's thrombosis, Ear clearing, Theodore C. Lyster, Saudi Air Ambulance, Barodontalgia, Aerospace physiology, FP-C, Airsickness, Hypobaric chamber, MedSTAR, RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, David Norvell Walker Grant, Time of useful consciousness, 1% rule, Bioastronautics, Flight nurse, William Kilpatrick Stewart, Flight physical, Aviation Medical Examiner, Aerospace Medical Association, Bucha effect, Alternobaric vertigo, RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, Frenzel maneuver, Flight medic, Luftwaffe Institute of Aviation Medicine, RAF Medical Services. Excerpt: Decompression sickness (DCS; also known as divers' disease, the bends or caisson disease) describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization. DCS most commonly refers to a specific type of scuba diving hazard but may be experienced in other depressurisation events such as caisson working, flying in unpressurised aircraft, and extra-vehicular activity from spacecraft. Since bubbles can form in or migrate to any part of the body, DCS can produce many symptoms, and its effects may vary from joint pain and rashes to paralysis and death. Individual susceptibility can vary from day to day, and different individuals under the same conditions may be affected differently or not at all. The classification of types of DCS by its symptoms has evolved since its original description over a hundred years ago. Although DCS is not a common event, its potential severity is such that much research has gone into preventing it, and scuba divers use dive tables or dive computers to set limits on their exposure to pressure and their ascent speed. Treatment is by hyperbaric oxygen therapy in a recompression chamber. If treated early, there is a significantly higher chance of successful recovery. DCS is classified by symptoms. The earliest descriptions of DCS used the terms: "bends" for joint or skeletal pain; "chokes" for breathing problems; and "staggers" for neurological problems. In 1960, Golding et al. introduced a simpler classification using the term "Type I ('simple')" for symptoms involving only the skin, musculoskeletal system, or lymphatic system, and "Type II ('serious')" for symptoms where other organs (such as the central nervous system) are involved. Type II DCS is considered more serious and usually has worse outcomes. This system, with minor modifications, may still be used today. Following changes to treatment methods, this classification is now much less useful in diagnosis, since neurological symptom