Kidney stones in pilots

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Hawk28
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Kidney stones in pilots

Post by Hawk28 »

Hi everyone!
I'm an 18 y/o male. My father and grandfather have had kidney stones in the past and I believe this puts me at a higher risk of getting one, but I am taking a lot of preventive measures to avoid them. I just wanted to know if this will prevent me from getting a medical to fly commercially. Has this happened to anyone? Will this be a problem in the future?
Thanks
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Castorero
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Re: Kidney stones in pilots

Post by Castorero »

Hawk28,

Yes, you may well develop kidney stones in the distant future as there is a fuzzy line of stones showing up in very close family members.

On the other hand, you may not, depending on the type of stones that your dad and Gdad have had.
It would be useful to know that, as there are differing strategies to try and avoid the same fate.

Transport is not going to hold your family history against you until you develop stones or are found to have some blood in your urine for no good reason. Then, it is a tough road to travel to get back in the air.

Given that stones tend to appear on around age 40 to 60 , you have a lot of time to delay or even avoid this fate.
So, get flying and do what you can to minimize the effect of your family history.

What preventative measures are you taking?

Castorero
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Hawk28
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Re: Kidney stones in pilots

Post by Hawk28 »

Thanks for the reply!

My Dad and Gdad both had calcium oxalate stones. Dad's had 3 yet ( he's almost 50 y/o). He got his first one when he was 32, the next one at 38, and the latest one at 49. Some more family info: my dad has 4 brothers, out of which 3( including my father) have had calcium oxalate stones in the past. The other 2 never had any stones.
As for my preventive measures, I have copious amounts of water( I aim for at least 3 liters daily). Moreover, I've reduced my salt intake massively. I'm mostly vegan( I rarely have animal protein, once in two weeks probably). Lastly, I try to avoid vegetables that contain high oxalate. Vegetables like spinach, rhubarb, sweet potatoes are what I try to avoid.

Hawk28
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CL-Skadoo!
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Re: Kidney stones in pilots

Post by CL-Skadoo! »

We had a pilot in our flight department develop them later on. He was down for a few months but as soon as he could demonstrate with his doctor that he had them under control he was back to full strength. I don't recall them being part of the medical history questioning during the medical process, someone please correct me if I am wrong. If you do get questioned about it, your reply regarding being proactive and taking preventative measures looks pretty damned good.

I would also ask around before you choose your medical examiner. Find one that is known for working with people. My family carries a strong history of high blood pressure, cholesterol and heart issues. I had high blood pressure at 18 when I went for my first medical, but my examiner saw that I was taking serious preventative measures for an 18 year old and worked with me. Almost 30 years later, here I am with a normal blood pressure, good cholesterol and a resting heart rate of 45.

I think you'll be fine. Good luck with the career, I know it looks like a mountain to climb right now, but you'll get there!
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Hawk28
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Re: Kidney stones in pilots

Post by Hawk28 »

Thanks for the optimistic reply!

Glad to hear that you are still healthy and fit. I just hope that I can get through this without any problems and your reply gives me a lot of hope in order to do my best!

Hawk28
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200hr Wonder
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Re: Kidney stones in pilots

Post by 200hr Wonder »

I had to have one surgically removed about 8 years ago, because hey I like big things and they could not do lithotripsy to break it up. My CAME, since retired, was excellent. Until you are diagnosed with some, don't worry about it. Drink lots of water. If you are unlucky enough to have one. You will know, it is sort of like giving birth and really sucks! You need to:

Ground your self and let your treating physician know your a pilot. They will likely send you home with a strainer to pee into the first time and catch the stone.

Once you feel better, you should ask for a CT Scan. It is TC's position that you are not medically fit to fly until you are proven to have no stones in the kidney. Once you have the negative CT, get in contact with TC and get your medical back. My CAME advised me that TC highly prefers a CT scan to ultrasound, because some smaller stones can be missed by the ultrasound. Even still if you try and pass the small one it can be rather debilitating.

I happened to be due for my annual renewal anyway, so I took my negative stones documentation from my urologist to my CAME at my regular appointment and he called the local RAMO office and badgered the RAMO into letting back to fly the very next day. All in all I got a month off work getting caught up on paper work.
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Morris20112
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Re: Kidney stones in pilots

Post by Morris20112 »

Genetically there are a lot of chances that you can get kidney stones, but it doesn't mean you can't avoid them. The preventive measures should be your top priority to live a life filled with health. The thing which I can say from my personal experience with friends is to staying hydrated is the core measure to keep stones away from kidney.
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