Prevention Of Of Altitude Sickness

Prevention

Altitude sickness can be prevented. The body needs time to adjust to the altitude. Physical condition does not affect this.

For those who do not know the speed as their bodies adapt to high altitudes, the following preventive measures are recommended.

If you travel without a ski area of ​​over 8250 feet (2500 meters), with a stop at an altitude of between 1-2 days.

Avoid physical activity during the first 24 hours.

Drink plenty of fluids and avoid alcoholic beverages.

Eat a diet rich in carbohydrates.

When climbing or hiking, climbing gradually increased after 8000 feet (2400 meters) above sea level

Increased sleeping altitude of 1000 feet (300 meters) for 24 hours. The rule of the climber is "climb high, sleep low." This means that the days of stop, a climber can ascend to a higher altitude during the day and return to a lower altitude to sleep at night. This helps to speed acclimatization.

Your doctor may prescribe acetazolamide (Diamox) to prevent acute mountain sickness. This drug accelerates acclimatization.

If rapid ascent is unavoidable, as in rescue missions, or if a person is likely to develop HAPE, the doctor may also prescribe nifedipine (Procardia). Nifedipine is commonly used to treat high blood pressure.

Prevention of high altitude cerebral edema (OCHA) is the same as for acute mountain sickness.

Treatment Of Altitude Sickness

Treatment of altitude sickness

Self-Care at Home

Rise further delay until symptoms improve.

Rest and keep warm.

Take acetaminophen (Tylenol), and headache.

Do not use sleeping pills or other CNS depressants to treat insomnia because they can suppress breathing.

If symptoms persist, do not go higher.

If symptoms worsen, down from about 1000-2000 feet (300-600 meters).

If the landing is not possible, a portable hyperbaric chamber (Gamow bag) can be simulated at a lower altitude.

The higher the altitude at which a hyperbaric chamber is used, the greater the apparent descent can be simulated. (This is because the portable hyperbaric facilities can increase the air pressure of 2 pounds per square inch).

For example, a hyperbaric chamber at 9800 feet (3000 meters), simulating a descent of 4800 feet (1500 meters), but the same hyperbaric chamber used at 24,600 feet (7500 meters) can simulate a descent of 7800 feet (2400 meters).

Medical treatment

Going down to lower altitudes or delay further increases are treatments for acute mountain sickness until the symptoms have disappeared.

Gamow bag can be used if the descent is not possible.

Oxygen (2-4 liters per minute), improved oxygen saturation of blood.

Aspirin or acetaminophen (Tylenol) can be a headache.

For nausea, the doctor may prescribe prochlorperazine (Stemetil ®), an anti-nausea drug which also increases the body's ability to increase respiration in response to low oxygen environments.

Sleeping pills for insomnia should not be taken. They are potentially dangerous because they can slow breathing.

Acetazolamide (Diamox) may be prescribed to speed acclimatization.

Acetazolamide is a diuretic (a drug that increases urine production) increases the renal excretion of bicarbonate. This lowers the pH of the blood, which stimulates the extra breath, resulting in higher levels of oxygen in the blood.

In addition, acetazolamide corrects night pauses in breathing known as periodic breathing. Acetazolamide also improve symptoms of insomnia.

HAPE best suits the way down.

Oxygen, if available, should be provided.

Nifedipine (Procardia), a drug for high blood pressure, has proven to be beneficial to HAPE.

Antibiotics may be given if there is fever and pneumonia are possible.

For more severe cases of HAPE, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask ventilation can be used. Although uncomfortable to wear, mask CPAP helps by increasing the pressure of the air inhaled.

If this fails, a tube may be placed in the mouth and airways. This, in conjunction with ventilatory support is necessary for the treatment of respiratory failure.

The only definitive treatment is a hare down.

Dexamethasone (Decadron, a steroid) may be beneficial.

In general, if dexamethasone is considered, then a glide path should be in place unless descent is impossible.

Some people, after receiving dexamethasone, can feel a lot better than they want to continue to rise. Under no circumstances should this be allowed.

Oxygen can be helpful.

Gamow bag can be purchased at the time until landing is possible.

Anyone with hare or HAPE should be as comfortable as possible.

Efforts of all types should be minimized, even during the descent.

This means that it may be necessary to organize the landing of the sick person, by whatever means available (helicopters, snowmobiles, or a mule, for example).

Symptoms Of Altitude Sickness

Acute mountain sickness may be associated with any combination of the following symptoms:

Fatigue

Headaches

Dizziness

Insomnia

Shortness of breath during exertion

Nausea

Decreased appetite

Swelling of the extremities

Social withdrawal

People with acute mountain sickness symptoms often attributed to other causes, including an uncomfortable bed, bad food, or a hangover. However, it is important to recognize that these symptoms may indicate a disease of great height.

High pulmonary edema (HAPE), an advanced form of acute mountain sickness, resulting in the progression of the following symptoms:

Shortness of breath at rest

Gurgling breathing

Cough with frothy sputum

Fever can

Respiratory failure

Early HAPE may be gradual or sudden. EPA generally occurs after more than a day at high altitude.

High altitude cerebral edema (OCHA) can begin with confusion.

A person begins to develop problems HARE keep up with the group.

Second, the approach and coordination may be impaired.

As the brain continues to swell, drowsiness and coma, and will develop.

If untreated, the rabbit eventually lead to death.

Causes Of Altitude Sickness

Altitude sickness occurs when the rate of climb high above the body's ability to adapt to these heights.

Altitude sickness usually occurs at elevations above 8,000 feet (about 2,400 meters) above sea level, where the rate of increase of over 1000 feet (300 meters) per day.

The following actions can trigger altitude sickness:

Ascending too quickly

Overexertion within 24 hours after birth

Inadequate fluid intake

Hypothermia

Alcohol or other sedatives

One way to avoid altitude sickness allows the body adjusts to the height gradually.

Acclimatization is the process by which the body adapts to high altitude.

Acclimatization The goal is to increase ventilation (breathing) to compensate for the low concentration of oxygen in the air.

To compensate for this additional ventilation, the blood must have a lower pH. In response, the kidneys excrete bicarbonate in the urine, which lowers the pH of the body to adapt to this additional breathing effort.

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.