Is Flying Dangerous for Your Health?

 Madrid flight at 39000 feet altitude the Geiger radiation meter indicates 2,63 (see photo) of radiation. Bearing in mind that at sea level it is 0,10 pilots and cabin crew are exposed to 26 times more radiation.

At Heights, pressurized air, engine vibration, and constant modification of the circadian cycle it possible to get sick from some type of cancer if one flies up to the retirement age of 65 Pilot' s life expectancy is up to 67 years.

Is being a pilot or a Flight Attendant risky for your health?

It is but so is living on the ground these days, between GMO food, the controversy around vegetables and fruit being sprayed with toxic fertilizers, the whole issue around vaccinations and lots more...

I have been blessed with a wife that decided to study herbalism, aromatherapy, natural healing and all that you can find on alternative medicine. As I would take to the skies as a pilot my wife came up with all sorts of things for me to try, in order to stay healthy. As I experimented in flight many colleagues asked for advice and suggested we write a book.

Here is an extract from the book regarding radiation:

The Radiation Problem

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

Buckminster Fuller. American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, & inventor. 1895-1983

Flying exposes you to large amounts of radiation. A transcontinental flight at 30,000 feet exposes you to 1,000 times the amount of you receive from security scanner devices. Flying at night can reduce that exposure by 99 percent, but pilots often don’t get to fly just at night.

It was scary for me to nd out that the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilots as “occupational radiation workers.” Flying high above the Earth with little atmosphere to protect them results in the absorption of high doses of cosmic rays and solar radiation.

During a typical polar flight from Chicago to Beijing, a pilot is exposed to the equivalent of two chest x-rays. Multiply this over the course of a career and you have an increased risk of cancer and cataracts. Passengers who are frequent flyers have reason to be concerned, too.

In one Swedish study, cases of malignant melanoma were found to be between two and three times higher than the norm for both male and female cabin crew, and breast cancer cases were 30 percent higher.

In another survey in Iceland, more than 1,000 pilots and flight attendants were compared with 2,000 people in the general population. Researchers made a detailed analysis of risk factors for skin cancer. The study concluded that those working on airplanes clearly had an increased risk of melanoma.

A NASA-funded Applied Sciences Program called NAIRAS (Nowcast of Atmosphere Ionizing Radiation for Aviation Safety), provides a space-weather, decision-support tool related to radiation impacts on crew and passengers of long-range aircraft.

Over the last few years, airlines have been flying more and more polar routes because they are shorter and have reduced headwinds. This creates fuel savings of tens of thousands of dollars per flight. However, the flight path is at higher latitudes (the poles) where the radiation problem can be the worst. Our planet’s magnetic field funnels cosmic rays and solar particles over the very same latitudes where airlines want to fly. On a typical day when the sun is quiet, dose rates for international flights over the poles are three to ve times higher than flights closer to the equator.

NAIRAS flight controllers know what the current situation is around the poles. It is, essentially, an online global map of radiation dose rates for different flight paths and altitudes. Maps are produced in near real-time by a computer at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia which combines cutting-edge physics codes with real-time measurements of solar activity and cosmic rays.

For an airline, flying over the poles can save $35,000 to $40,000 per flight in fuel costs alone. On the other hand, altering course to avoid a polar radiation storm can cost as much as $100,000. A forecasting tool like NAIRAS can help the airlines make the right decision. Of even greater importance is the human factor. Most pilots are not aware of the high level of radiation they are being exposed to, but with NAIRAS they can.

How A Pilot Beat Nuclear Explosions

Captain Gary Pylant was employed for thirty years as a pilot. His job was to fly through the mushroom cloud produced by atomic explosions. They had all sorts of machines on board to measure the radiation levels. Due to the high radiation Gary was exposed to, he got very sick and usually spent three to four days in after one of these flights. For thirty years he attended two to seven funerals a year for colleagues that had passed away.

Gary drank fresh, raw, green juice every day containing green grasses like alfalfa, seaweed, spirulina, chlorella, and wheat grass. He regularly did wheatgrass enemas and it took him four solid weeks of eating a raw-food diet to get rid of the toxins. He attributes his survival and good health to drinking this green juice.

The Importance Of Iodine

Iodine is a mineral similar to calcium and magnesium. It is found in large amounts in seaweed like marine phytoplankton, spirulina, and chlorella. It is also found in other plants and animals from the sea. Countries that have a significant dietary intake of seafood and seaweed, such as Japan, boast a much higher iodine intake than many landlocked countries.

Iodine is important for a number of reasons. Clinically, many people with low thyroid functioning experience common symptoms such as fatigue, cold hands and feet, weight gain, dry skin and weak nails. These symptoms can be alleviated with iodine supplementation.

Several types of thyroid problems can develop after radiation exposure, and it is a known fact that flight crews can suffer from some form of thyroid dysfunction. Your thyroid, a gland in your neck below your Adam’s apple, is your main gland for energy and metabolism. Thyroid often called hypothyroidism, is actually an immune-system problem.

Iodine is a key mineral for thyroid functioning and protects against radiation. Unfortunately, doctors are rarely taught how important adequate iodine intake is and so this information rarely gets out to the general public. The thyroid gland has an influence on many areas of the body, and iodine is needed for proper thyroid functioning.

When the thyroid gland lacks iodine, it may increase in size. This enlarged gland then searches out any iodine in the body causing iodine deficiency. Scientists have known for a long time that iodine supplementation may help lessen iodine deficiency.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens is an American physician and a holistic medicinal practitioner. Dr. Cous- ens advocates live-food therapy, a nutritional regimen that he says can cure diabetes, depression, and other chronic degenerative diseases. Dr. Cousens has reported on studies conducted in the early 1900s showing that a high intake of iodine is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. We also know that low iodine intake is associated with liver cancer.

Women with a history of low iodine levels (hypothyroidism) face a significantly higher risk of developing liver cancer. Researchers led by Manal Hassan of the Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas concluded that this finding suggested a clinical association between hypothyroidism and hepatitis C, which is contributing to the western world’s rising rate of liver cancer.

 Dr. Cousens stated, “From a larger physiological perspective, it is important to realize that the thyroid is only one gland of many glands and tissues that needs iodine. Other glands, organs, and systems with high iodine uptake are the breasts, ovaries, cervix, blood, lymph, bones, gastric mucosal, salivary, adrenal, prostate, colon, thymus, lungs, bladder, kidney, and skin. Iodine is found and used in every hormonal receptor in the body.”

According to a study done at Ghent University in Belgium, iodine is helpful in treating and preventing the formation of cysts, including ovarian and breast cysts. Many women have found sig- ni cant relief from fibrocystic breast pain through iodine treatment. This process can take four to six months of supplementation for full effect.

Another prominent expert in iodine is Dr. David Brownstein. He is a board-certified family physician and is one of the foremost American practitioners of holistic medicine. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Wayne State University School of Medicine. Currently, he is the medical director of the Center for Holistic Medicine in West Bloom eld, Michigan.

Dr. Brownstein has tested over 4,000 patients in his clinic. His findings have been shocking 96.5 percent of his patients tested low for this critical substance. He advises people to take between 200 and 300 milligrams of iodine daily, with higher doses for more serious and dif cult diseases. In perspective, this seemingly “high” dose is still far lower than what the 11th edition of the 1910–1911 Encyclopedia Britannica cites as the “usual” dose for the time - which was 300–900 milligrams (300,000–900,000 micrograms!) of iodine daily.

Flying Snippets

? One hundred thousand air miles per year is equivalent getting twenty chest X-rays.

? Exposure to radiation is more intense at higher latitudes. Radiation levels at the poles are about twice those at the equator.

? Exposure to radiation is more intense at higher altitudes (above 33,000ft) as the layer of protective atmosphere above you is thinner.

? Solar radiation storms can sometimes follow solar flares and may also occur in the years leading up to and down from them. During a storm, radiation intensity can increase 1,000 fold.

? Iodine supplementation is key in protecting yourself from airport scanners and cosmic radiation in flight.

What Are the Professionals saying after reading Health4Flyers?

Dr. Ole A Bjerkan, Captain on Boeing Business Jet (BBJ Dubai Air Wing- VVIP Operation said:

“In their Health4Flyers Fabrizio and Silvia guide the reader through easy steps and hints to dealing with modern day life and the unique stresses that are placed on us as human beings. We have not evolved in the last few hundred years as much as our environment has changed and in there lays the problem with us struggling to feel full of vitality and alive. Medicine with its “Pill for every Ill” has not been able to restore this.

In the helpful guidelines and hints are easy to read, well summarized and logically laid out. In the more alternative way of feeling healthy is presented in an easy and clear way. Not only a book for or years but also for “High Flyers”. The burnout generation now has something of value, which will make you feel better. Nutritional and Emotional balance can once again be restored and the feeling of being well and healthy once again a realistic option.

A well-written and easy to read containing many helpful hints and guidelines. As a Physician and I can thoroughly recommend it.”

BBJ & Bombardier Global Express instructor, Captain Shaun Mayhew said:

"Health 4 Flyers is one of those great books that can be read by people from all walks of life, not just aviators.

The book is easy and interesting (with many amusing cartoons) to read and before I knew it, I had read it from front to back with the occasional flick to remind myself of something said in a previous chapter.

I could really relate to this book, having been an aviator for many years, I have always known how important it is to look after yourself in both body and mind and Health 4 Flyers is a great

reinforcement tool. It gives you the tools to lead a healthy and productive life and remind those of us who may have forgotten due to our hectic everyday lives, how important it is to keep everything in balance.

Fabrizio and Silvia have done a great job, I hope you enjoy the read as much as I did.”

To find out more about Health4Flyers and get on course to healthy flying click here:

Fabrizio Poli is an independent aviation consultant specialized in aircraft sales. He is also an accomplished Airline Transport Pilot having flown both private Jets and for the airlines. Fabrizio is also a bestselling author and inspirational speaker & has been featured on Russia Today (RT), TRT World, Social Media Examiner, Bloomberg, Channel 5, Chicago Tribune, Daily Telegraph, City Wealth Magazine, Billionaire.com, Wealth X, Financial Times, El Financiero and many other Media offering insight on the aviation world. Fabrizio is also regularly featured as an Aviation Analyst on Russia Today (RT) and TRT World. Fabrizio is also aviation special correspondent Most Magazine. Fabrizio is also considered one of the world's top 30 experts in using Linkedin for business. You can tune in weekly to Fabrizio's business Podcast Living Outside the Cube available both in video & audio. You can also follow Fabrizio's aviation videos on Biz Jet TV  Fabrizio's latest book "Health4Flyers", the first natural-health book for and frequent flyers is now available worldwide.

You can reach Fabrizio [email protected]