Wilderness Medicine: Dehydration and Altitude Illness
Video taken from the channel: MedWild Wilderness Medicine, Survival, Rescue
What is Altitude Sickness?
Video taken from the channel: MedicEne
Acetazolamide and the potassium-sparing diuretics
Video taken from the channel: Medmastery
Altitude Sickness Recognising the Symptoms
Video taken from the channel: Chase Mountains
Wilderness Medicine: High Altitude Sickness Prevention
Video taken from the channel: MedWild Wilderness Medicine, Survival, Rescue
Hypoxemia The 5 Causes & Treatment… #1 High Altitude
Video taken from the channel: MedCram Medical Lectures Explained CLEARLY
Symptoms of Altitude Sickness & 6 Ways To Prevent It
Video taken from the channel: Sierra
Ask your doctor if medications for altitude illness (acetazolamide (Diamox, Dazamide)) would be helpful for you. Carry rain gear/warm clothing because mountain weather can change quickly. Drink plenty of liquids while exercising (16-32 oz/hour or more in hotter weather).
When it comes to altitude sickness, fitness alone doesn’t grant you immunity, warns Dr. Michael Koehle of the University of British Columbia’s Altitude Medicine Clinic. In fact, very fit hikers.
Avoid drinking alcohol or caffeine Both alcohol and caffeine can dehydrate you so they are best avoided when you are living or exercising at high altitude. Any other substances that depress your breathing should also be avoided which means that smoking is out as well.Whenever possible, you should slowly increase altitude to avoid acute mountain sickness, or altitude sickness.
Basic symptoms are common and include headache, nausea, dizziness, loss of appetit.The most important and effective way of avoiding all forms of altitude illness is to ascend gradually. Even before you get to potentially dangerous elevations, it may help to spend a night at.The very best way to avoid to getting altitude sickness is to transition to a higher altitude slowly. One study found that the prevalence of acute mountain sickness was 58 percent with rapid ascent and no prior pre-exposure, 29 percent with pre-exposure only, 33 percent with slow ascent only, and 7 percent with both pre-exposure and slow ascent.
Even if you try to prevent altitude sickness, it may still happen. If this is the case, you should be careful not to make it worse. If you have acute mountain sickness, wait up to 12 hours for symptom improvement. Try also to descend immediately at least down 1,000 feet if symptoms do not improve in 12 hours or sooner if your symptoms are severe.Prevention of Altitude Sickness Not surprisingly, managing altitude and ascent is key to avoiding altitude sickness.
If you do this effectively, your body can adjust its physiology to run on rarefied air. Acclimatization: It’s remarkable how well we can adapt to altitude, if we give our body time to do so.Sometimes called “mountain sickness,” altitude sickness is a group of symptoms that can strike if you walk or climb to a higher elevation, or altitude, too quickly.Physical fitness offers no protection from altitude illness.
In fact, many young fit athletes drive themselves too hard at altitude prior to acclimatizing thinking they can push through the discomfort. They ignore signs of altitude illness thinking it can’t affect them because they are fit and healthy.Altitude illness is divided into 3 syndromes: acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), and high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). Acute Mountain Sickness.
AMS is the most common form of altitude illness, affecting, for example, 25% of all visitors sleeping above 8,000 ft (2,500 m) in Colorado.Age, general health, and physical condition do not affect your chances for altitude sickness. However, not everyone who mountain climbs, hikes, or flies gets this condition. Read on to.One dangerous reaction to high altitude is a condition called high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), in which the brain accumulates extra fluid, swells and stops working properly.
A related illness, high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), can occur with or without warning symptoms that signal altitude sickness. HAPE causes fluid to enter the lungs.Avoid yoga poses, crunches, and any other activities that call for lying on your back longer than just a couple of minutes. High-altitude exercise.How to Prevent Altitude Sickness.
If you take steps to prepare for altitude while on your trip, hopefully you can avoid dealing with this illness and maximize your fun. We always rely on some sanity-saving tips for a family ski trip, and one of our goals is to keep everyone healthy by avoiding altitude sickness.
List of related literature:
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| from Merriman’s Assessment of the Lower Limb E-Book |
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| from Cardiology E-Book |
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| from Principles of Clinical Medicine for Space Flight |
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| from Wilderness Medicine E-Book: Expert Consult Premium Edition Enhanced Online Features |
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| from Athletic and Sport Issues in Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation E-Book |
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| from 100 Questions and Answers about Sports Nutrition & Exercise |
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| from Conn’s Current Therapy 2010 E-Book: Expert Consult |
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| from Pediatric Respiratory Medicine E-Book |
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| from Pathology for the Physical Therapist Assistant E-Book |
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| from Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions |
37 comments
Great info, didn’t know that about ginko. Also, some other symptoms of altitude sickness are nosebleeds and peripheral swelling the two that I always get!
Try 1 tsp baking soda with juice of 1/2 lemon and 2 Tbsp ACV. Sweeten with stevia & use a straw!
I recently made it to the summit of Mt. Elbert in Colorado. Being from Michigan, and aware of the altitude difference, I only climbed to the tree line the first day. The second day I made the summit and was glad I took two days to acclimatize.
Great advice. Ironically, I think I experience all of those symptoms while on a backpacking trip. LOL.
The best cure for altitude sickness is some pure medical cbd.
Excellent info and advice for reducing the possibility of developing/experiencing AMS. Especially like how you made it a point to not only stay in tune with your own body, but to keep an eye out for your climbing partners as well. Some truly epic scenery there by the way!
Planning a possible trek to EBC in about a year. I am a wimp when it comes to headaches & I’m concerned. Sounds as if you might be somewhat anti-drug, but I am asking you for the best drug plan for sickness prevention, especially headache, which would destroy this amazing trek for me. I am a methadone patient & on the trip will be about 50mg/day (I’m tapering). Never causes drowsiness nor a high. I’m a fit marathoner. Can the opiate prevent headache? Will altitude increase drug effect?
Thanks for your attention. I am looking forward to your reply.
Should I worry about my move to Boulder, Co from living right at sea level my entire life?
He bro very niec advice… im leaving to nepal in over a week. Im planning a solo trip for 1 or 2 weeks. what about preventtaive medicines? And see some mention dex and diamox, do you have experience with this? i dont think i go higher than 3 km.
1:13 “you’ll get headaches above 2,500 meters”
Me: laughs while sitting confortably in my Mexico City home
My preemie had Hypoxemia at birth i never asked. Is that possibly from lungs not being developed?
Hi MedCram, great explanation of hypoxaemia. I will show my respiratory physician trainees. This also gives me ideas for videos I will create for my YT channel including the difference between hypoxaemia and breathlessness which do not always go together!
I thought I had fatigue because of the heat but now days later every time i move too much I feel like Its mountain sickness…. Im not near any mountains. I have a steroid inhaler for my allergy asthma….would that help? And change my ph like eat more fruits? Plz help i cant afford a doctor
Check out Dr Berg and his take on respirators being used to treat covid 19
Thank you for putting out great information. Could you maybe explain mid altitude like 5000 and long term health, or at 5000 and pregnancy when the mother is not native to the altitude but lover elevation like 0 -1000?
I have been following your videos for about a month. I appreciate that you provide concise info and also like your humor. Thank you.
Hmmm, I still may take a tasty Pale Ale for the peak of a 14er. Haha
Thanks for the helpful tips!
-Andy
Great video! Very informative. We made a similar video ourselves for climbers preparing to ascend Kilimanjaro: https://youtu.be/3hdqBcvz9u8
Check it out if you get the chance!
Top vid on the Symptoms of altitude sickness but not much in terms of preventative measures apart from descending etc. I believe the use of diamox as a preventative should have been mentioned plus the use of dex when you need to get someone down in a hurry (serious AMS).
Thanks for watching See short videos on the other 4 causes of hypoxemia free: https://www.medcram.com/courses/hypoxemia-explained-clearly
Very informative! Me and my friends are planning to climb some mountains sometime later this year and AMS was something I was partly worried about, so thank you for taking the time to explain this!
We used lavender and peppermint essential oils. Got some great sleep and we were fine the next day. We only went to Aurora, but we both had tightness in our chest and felt dizzy.
Flight attendant is my profession and yesterday I did a layover in salt lake city..The first night and even about a couple of hours upon waking up, I was ok..Then I started noticing shortness of breath, fatigue and feeling very dizzy…Hey I was in the hotel, experiencing this…I felt disapointed because I wanted to explore upon walking but then I began listening to my body and I felt like I needed to go back to my room..I drank lots of water and meditated..That helped but not all the way…Is the normal for a lot of people? how can I stop getting that sickness whenever I am salt lake city? would I have to stay there for 5 days so that my body could get used to it?
Good questionand it depends on how you are acclimatizing and feeling.
You may get some additional benefit from “climbing high and sleeping low” on your rest day.
However, getting over zealous on your rest day, especially if you are not feeling great, may increase fatigue or worsen altitude symptoms.
We typically recommend getting out to stretch the legs for a short walk, but only taking on a significant altitude gain if you are feeling great.
Glad the videos were helpful. Enjoy your trek to Everest Base Camp!
If starting the trek from Lukla, most people actually do well with just 2 weeks. It is about a 9,000 foot elevation gain to EBC, so 14 days provides ample time for keeping daily sleeping elevation gains under 2,000 feet, and having a couple of scheduled rest days to relax.
That said, taking more than 2 weeks allows more time for some great alternate trails to explore places like the Imja Kola River Valley and Khumjung.
I have a job interview in Denver, currently living at 1000′ am I going to have a problem?
I wish I’ve watch this video before going to to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite this weekend. It turn out to be a disaster to me as I didn’t know I’m going to have AMS! Great and very informative video. The symptoms I felt were just the same symptoms you described. Thought I was having a heart or lung problem. Whew!
I realize this video was made several years ago and I’m not sure you will view it, but I’ll ask any way. My wife and I are going to Colorado this upcoming ski season (2015 2016). The last time we were there she got very sick (bordering on me calling 911). We live at sea level and going to sleep at 10,000 feet. What can we do to not have a occurrence of these symptoms? Thanks for your time.
Great video and I watched all of it. When does the altitude sickness starts when you are use to flat land?
Why does the decrease in oxygen level cause the constriction of blood vessels in the lung?
Why does the decrease in oxygen level cause the expansion of blood vessels in the brain? After the expansion of the blood vessels in the brain, is it true that the permeability of blood vessels increases, which allows more water to diffuse out of the blood vessels into the brain tissue?
Great video! I’m also doing the Everest Base Camp trek soon. I have a quick question: the second day of trekking on my group’s itinerary goes from 8700 ft to 11,290 ft which is almost 2,500 ft gain. We have an acclimatization day after this but is the trekking day mentioned a day to take it easy? All other days are well below the 2,000 ft limit you advise. Thank you.
Alcohol + altitude = horrible/painful/worst hangover ever. I don’t recommend it! Nothing is fun about throwing up violently for 24 hrs, being terribly weak, having a throbbing headache etc. I am particularly sensitive to any changes in altitude and experience many of the symptoms that were described in this video. Thankfully I made this mistake once (suffered the consequences) and have never done it again. I’d rather pass on the drinks than feel absolute shit the next day.
Medical information for Acetazolamide including Mechanism, Indication, Contraindications, Dosing, Adverse Effect, Interaction. To know more about Acetazolamide I got this article https://www.pediatriconcall.com/drugs/acetazolamide/216
Who else ended up here because of the NY doctor who said Covid 19 resembles high altitudes sickness…
5 causes of hypoxemia:
1. High altitude
2. Diffusion
3. Hyperventilation
4. Shunting
5. V/Q mismatch
Just moved from a city that was 50m of altitude to another city of 2’000 m