Altitude sickness

At higher altitudes, the air pressure around the person (barometric pressure) decreases so that there is less oxygen in the surrounding air. People can live comfortably at moderately high altitudes but your body has to make some adjustments, and that takes time. If you ascend to altitudes above 2,500 m, will present a greater risk of developing symptoms uncomfortable or hazardous due to the change in altitude.

Symptoms of altitude sickness do not put their lives in danger are called acute mountain sickness. People who go up hills and practicing skiing in high altitude locations, such as the Alps are at risk of developing an acute mountain sickness. Symptoms of this disease improve if the person fall rapidly to a lower altitude. For very mild symptoms, stop before continuing the climb can be sufficient to allow the disappearance of symptoms.

The acute mountain sickness is less hazardous to the various types of altitude sickness that can occur. This disease affects about half of people who climb from sea level to 4,000 m above the programarem without enough time to rest.

The symptoms that develop at high altitudes must be considered very seriously since some problems altitude can progress to very severe. One of these dangerous consequences of exposure to high altitude is a frame called high altitude cerebral edema, wherein the brain accumulates excess liquid increases in volume and ceases to function properly.

Another severe is the high altitude pulmonary edema, which can occur with or without warning symptoms that indicate a altitude sickness. At high altitude pulmonary edema, the lungs are filled with fluid.

May also arise as serious problem of altitude sickness, called the retinal hemorrhage of high altitude, which can cause eye injuries. Coma and death are the most serious consequences of altitude sickness.

The altitude sickness is most likely to occur in people who have a history of this disease. It is more likely to occur if the person your skyrocket, if you perform strenuous exercise for the first days of exposure to high altitude and if you have lived in a downtown area prior to ascent. Obesity appears to increase the risk of altitude sickness and genetics may also increase the risk of some people, particularly in relation to high-altitude pulmonary edema.

Prevention

The gradual changes in altitude will help the organism to adapt to an environment with low oxygen levels and may reduce the likelihood of development of all kinds of mountain sickness. People adapt to different speeds, but there are four general guidelines to climb above 3,000 m which should be followed by those who climb to high altitudes:

• does not increase the altitude more than 300 m per night

• Each time you increase your altitude em1.000 m, spend a second night at that level before continuing to rise

• limit physical exertion to reasonable levels during the first days of ascent

• Drink plenty of fluids during altitude exposure.

If a person develop early signs of altitude sickness, to prevent them from getting worse immediately stopping the rising or falling.

If a person has experienced a altitude sickness in the past and are planning to go back up a high altitude, you can discuss with your doctor the option of taking preventive medications. The mild symptoms adjusting the altitude (particularly sleep disorders due to changes in breathing patterns, but possibly also other symptoms) can be limited through the use of acetazolamide or a corticosteroid drug, dexamethasone. Acetazolamide can cause frequent urination and metallic taste in the mouth. These drugs do not prevent serious forms of altitude sickness.

If a person has previously developed a high altitude pulmonary edema may be treated with an oral medicine, nifedipine, a drug inhaled salmeterol or both drugs for further ascent to high altitude. These drugs can stabilize the flow pattern of blood in the lungs.

Treatment

The first rule for the treatment of mild symptoms of acute mountain sickness is to stop rising until the symptoms have completely disappeared. If a person has more severe symptoms or symptoms of cerebral edema high altitude pulmonary edema of high altitude or blurred vision, need to move to a lower altitude as quickly as possible, even in the middle of the night. If you stay at altitude where it is or if it continues to rise, the symptoms will worsen and the disease can have very serious consequences.

Beyond the drop to a lower altitude, the altitude sickness light can be treated with rest and analgesics. Acetazolamide is a drug which can accelerate recovery.

If a person has symptoms of altitude sickness, you should avoid drinking alcohol, take sleeping pills and painkillers opioids. All these substances can make breathing more slowly, which is extremely dangerous situations with a low level of oxygen.

Besides moving to a lower altitude? or if the downhill has to be postponed? one can treat high altitude cerebral edema with oxygen and supplementation with a drug, dexamethasone, which reduces brain swelling.

If available, this disease can also be improved through the use of a portable hyperbaric chamber that simulates the descent to a lower altitude while the steps are carried out to transport the patient to a lower altitude. Further treatment of high altitude pulmonary edema comprises administering oxygen and a drug called nifedipine as well as the use of a hyperbaric chamber pattern.