1. < Lung Health

Flying with lung disease

Posted by fracturedd @fracturedd, Jun 25, 2019

I'm scared to fly due to my lung disease!! I last flew 3 years ago in August. In September my lung collapsed. Part of me thinks maybe during the flight one of my lung nodules "bursted" which wasn't enough to make my lung collapse, but put me at risk. Then caring on with physical activity,,, moving my hot tub filter, my lung officially collapsed. Or it had nothing to do with the flight and I shouldn't have been lifting heavy things during a coughing attack. Ugh I really want to get on a plane.

Does anyone else fly with bad lungs?? I will say I do feel short of breath during flight. My pulmonologist says it's a risk worth taking. Did anyone else ask their pulmonologist advice on this topic,,,and if so please share.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Health Support Group.

ibw295 | @ibw295 | Aug 10, 2021
In reply to @colleenyoung "Allow me to be the acronym buster for this post. FAA = Federal Aviation Administration POC..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

Allow me to be the acronym buster for this post.
FAA = Federal Aviation Administration
POC = portable oxygen concentrators
HAST = Highly Accelerated Stress Test
PLCH = Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis
O2 Sats = oxygen saturation

IBW, I couldn't find the FAA 2011 study to which you referred, but found this perspective from 2014
- Fitness to Fly in Patients with Lung Disease https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201406-234PS

I see that you posted more about your wife's current condition in this related discussion.
- Internal Tremors associated w/ pneumothorax or PH https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/internal-tremors-associated-w-pneumothorax-or-ph/

Jump to this post

HAST- High altitude simulation test. Surprising that pulmonologists often do not know about this test although those who handle PH do. In NYC surprising that only Bellevue Hosp can offer it.

I cannot send you the link through your website, but the name of the 2011 study is "Health Effects of Aircraft Cabin Pressure in Older and Vulnerable Passengers". If you Google it you will find it.

On my Linkedin page at the time I posted that "FAA regulations do not require air carriers or passengers to provide reports regarding medical events on board aircraft or individual health data. The FAA has no database with such information, to inform medical researchers about the effects of flying, particularly to older passengers and with pre-existing conditions that could be affected by insufficient cabin pressurization relative to their need. This is also true for foreign airlines."

If there is no data created or maintained it is hard to study the medical issue and to know the degree of the problem, particularly if passengers have no symptoms during the flight and may not think to check their oximeter during the flight, if they have one.

REPLY
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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Aug 10, 2021
In reply to @ibw295 "HAST- High altitude simulation test. Surprising that pulmonologists often do not know about this test although..." + (show)
@ibw295

HAST- High altitude simulation test. Surprising that pulmonologists often do not know about this test although those who handle PH do. In NYC surprising that only Bellevue Hosp can offer it.

I cannot send you the link through your website, but the name of the 2011 study is "Health Effects of Aircraft Cabin Pressure in Older and Vulnerable Passengers". If you Google it you will find it.

On my Linkedin page at the time I posted that "FAA regulations do not require air carriers or passengers to provide reports regarding medical events on board aircraft or individual health data. The FAA has no database with such information, to inform medical researchers about the effects of flying, particularly to older passengers and with pre-existing conditions that could be affected by insufficient cabin pressurization relative to their need. This is also true for foreign airlines."

If there is no data created or maintained it is hard to study the medical issue and to know the degree of the problem, particularly if passengers have no symptoms during the flight and may not think to check their oximeter during the flight, if they have one.

Jump to this post

Thanks for the exact title of the article. With that I was able to find the link.
You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe. Clearly the link you wanted to post is not spam. Allow me to post it for you.

- Health Effects of Aircraft Cabin Pressure In Older and Vulnerable Passengers https://www.faa.gov/data_research/research/med_humanfacs/cer/media/HealthEffectsVulnerablePassengers.pdf

REPLY
ibw295 | @ibw295 | Aug 10, 2021

Thanks Colleen. It is worth reading but those potentially effected and by the medical community. Study for flights longer than 5 hour flights would be useful.

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