High On Health
Hypertension and FAA Certification hypertension will require treatment of the underlying condition to FAA satisfaction. Risk factors for primary hypertension include age, obesity, race (more common in non-Hispanic blacks), family history, tobacco use, too much dietary sodium or too little potassium, excess alcohol consumption, stress, and kidney disease. Normal blood pressure is generally considered to be under 120/80. Treatment from a medical point of view depends upon the risk factors. Your aviation medical examiner (AME) can certify you for any class as long as your blood pressure does not exceed 155/90. This is an arbitrary level based on the likelihood of blood
Dr. Bill Blank
by Dr. Bill Blank, MD
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ypertension or high blood pressure is quite common. It is estimated that almost half of our population will develop it sometime during their lifetime. The FAA’s mission is to promote aviation safety. It develops its certification procedures with this in mind. The FAA’s time frame is, at most, two (2) years except for 3rd class medical certificates issued to pilots under 40 years of age in which case it is five (5) years. Pilots under 40 are not likely to have hypertension. When the FAA certifies someone with hypertension, they feel it is unlikely the airman will become unsafe because of hypertension-related issues during the period of certification. The hypertension certification policy needs to be seen with this in mind. Hypertension is usually symptom free. Over time untreated hypertension can cause heart attacks, aneurysms, heart failure, kidney disease, eye disease and cerebral problems such as strokes, transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) or "mini strokes," and memory problems. Most cases of hypertension have no known cause. This is called primary or essential hypertension. Secondary hypertension is caused by an underlying disease such as sleep apnea, kidney disease, or adrenal gland tumors. Certification with secondary APRIL/MAY 2021 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE 15
