Childhood Asthma

[Guest]

I may have had asthma as a child. I legitimately do not know. It was brought up to me by a family member. It was stated to me as the doctor said you “might”. As in its believed not to have been a diagnosis, but suspected. What should I do?

 

[Lindberg]

You should keep in mind that the statements on your medical application must be true and correct to the best of your knowledge, and act accordingly. So if, to the best of your knowledge, you were diagnosed with, or had, asthma, you would have to disclose that.

 

[mcmanigle]

Speaking as a physician, but not an AME, lawyer, or FAA person:

If I were in your shoes, ie had been told "a doctor once said you might have asthma when you were three years old" or something, but then you spent your entire teenage / adult life never using an albuterol inhaler, never waking up in the night coughing, not wheezing after exercise, not getting bad seasonal allergies, not having secondhand smoke or other irritants give you breathing problems, not getting short of breath with common colds, and otherwise feeling like my lungs were just fine, I would think "well, that family member must have heard the doc thinking out loud, not diagnosing me."

If on the other hand I did have one or more of those issues above, or just felt like my lungs weren't quite as good as most other people I know, I'd go to my PCP, tell them the story and my current issues, and get a pulmonary function test. Mostly because I'd rather be on appropriate treatments so as not to deteriorate over time.

For what it's worth, someone with asthma so mild that they don't even know if they have it shouldn't have trouble getting a medical issued on the spot by a decent AME anyway. The worksheet for CACI (conditions AMEs can issue) for asthma is here: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or.../offices/aam/ame/guide/media/C-CACIAsthma.pdf

If it's worse than that, it takes a back-and-forth with FAA.

 

[David Megginson]

Vague family legend is not a medical diagnosis. If you have no respiratory problems now and have no evidence that you ever had any, why tie up precious medical resources during a global pandemic trying to diagnose a non-problem? Treat it like every other unconfirmed (and probably exaggerated) family story, and simply smile kindly and move on.

 

[Plano Pilot]

If you had it I am pretty sure you would know.

 

[bbchien]

If you have had no symptoms and no meds for 5 years, declare it and the AME will yawn and issue you.