Page last updated: 2012-02-09
AircrewHealth.comPeople who fly for a living have health concerns above and beyond those who work on the ground.
Most health concerns specific to the flying professions are environmental, arising from conditions unique to the environment inside an aircraft: air quality, potable water quality, pressure changes, reduced oxygen content in the air at altitude, and exposures to such things as cosmic radiation and magnetic fields, fumes, vibration, noise, and so on.
Pilots may be at risk for the damaging effects of excess sun exposure on the flight deck.
Frequent exposure to infectious diseases also can be a significant problem, especially for Flight Attendants.
Note:
Click here for current info about disease
outbreaks around the world, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Finally, since most flying jobs entail irregular and frequently changing schedules, long work hours, frequent absence from home, and frequent travel across time zones, considerable dysregulation of biological rhythms can result.
This, in turn, can lead to sleep problems and fatigue, as well as disruption of normal patterns for eating and other bodily functions.
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Here are some trustworthy on-line sources of information about Flying and Health.
Aircraft Depressurisation: Cabin Crew Information Bulletin - Australian Transport Safety Bureau
(January, 2009) 
[PDF format - 8 pages]
The Impacts of Australian Transcontinental 'Back of Clock' Operations on Sleep and
Performance in Commercial Aviation Flight Crew - Australian Transport Safety Bureau
(March, 2007)
[PDF format - 42 pages]
FAA/OSHA Aviation Safety & Health Team (First Report) - FAA [PDF format - 47 pages]
Medical Guidelines for Airline Travel - Aerospace Medical Assn. [PDF format]
Hypoxia: The Higher You Fly, the Less Air in the Sky - FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute [PDF format]
Altitude-Induced Decompression Sickness - FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute [PDF format]
Hearing & Noise in Aviation - FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute [PDF format]
Safety Alert for Operators: Preventing Injuries Caused by Turbulence - FAA,
December 2005 [PDF format]
Safety Alert for Operators: Portable Oxygen for Flight Attendants - FAA,
October 2005 [PDF format]
Sunglasses for Pilots: Beyond the Image - FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute [PDF format]
Travel by Air: Health Considerations - publication of the World Health
Organization (WHO) [PDF format]
Aeromedical.org - Aerospace Medicine home page of Dr. Dougal Watson: a web resource for those with an interest in the human side of aviation
U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA):
International Civil Aviation Association (ICAO) - Aviation Medicine Section
Aviation Occupational Health & Safety - Transport Canada
In the interest of facilitating further research on the topic of Flying and Health, we have compiled a list journal articles and other references related to the topic.
Some of the items listed were used as source material to prepare this page.