Altitude Sickness Overview

Altitude sickness (altitude sickness) is a disease that ranges from a mild headache and weariness of a life-threatening accumulation of fluid in the lungs or brain at high altitude.

The acute mountain sickness is the mildest and most common. As more people travel in areas of high altitude skiing and mountaineering, acute mountain sickness has become a major concern for public health. About a quarter of tourists to Colorado ski resort, two-thirds of the climbers on Mount Rainier, and half the people flying in the Khumbu region of Nepal to develop acute mountain sickness.

A more severe form of altitude sickness is high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). This disease occurs when fluid accumulates in the lungs, a condition that can make breathing very difficult. Usually this happens after another night spent at high altitude, but it can happen earlier or later. HAPE often occurs rapidly. If left untreated, can progress to respiratory collapse and ultimately death. HAPE is the leading cause of death from altitude sickness.

Another serious form of altitude sickness is high in cerebral edema (HARE), in which fluid accumulates in the brain. As the brain swells in the liquid, the person's mental status changes. Loss of coordination, coma and death can follow unless the problem is recognized and treated immediately.