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High Altitude Sickness
Howdy,
My first high altitude experience was going to the top of Mount Shasta (14,179 feet) in California. My head was pounding like someone was knocking on a door, and this continued for hours. After I made it to the summit and began to descend, the pain went away. This is a clue to the primary treatment for any altitude related problems: go lower.
High Altitude Illnesses
Here are the three most common illnesses caused by altitude:
AMS or acute mountain sickness: Common when going above 10,000 feet (3000 meters) without proper acclimatization. Symptoms include headache, nausea, weakness, shortness of breath, vomiting, and problems sleeping.
HAPE or high altitude pulmonary edema: Rare below 8,500 feet (2,500 meters) More common with younger (under 18) hikers and persons who have had the problem before. Symptoms develop 24 to 60 hours after arrival at high altitude, and include coughing, shortness of breath, weakness, headache, rapid heart rate, and progress to constant coughing, bloody sputum, fever and chest congestion. Crackling sound in chest, resting pulse rate of 110 respirations per minute, and respirations over 16 per minute are early signs of HAPE. Death is usually within 12 hours after coma starts.
CE or cerebral edema: Less common than AMS or HAPE, but more dangerous. Rare below 11,500 feet (3,500 meters). Symptoms include increasingly severe headache, instability, mental confusion, hallucinations, loss of vision, facial muscle paralysis, loss of dexterity, restless sleep followed by coma and death.
My first high altitude experience was going to the top of Mount Shasta (14,179 feet) in California. My head was pounding like someone was knocking on a door, and this continued for hours. After I made it to the summit and began to descend, the pain went away. This is a clue to the primary treatment for any altitude related problems: go lower.
High Altitude Illnesses
Here are the three most common illnesses caused by altitude:
AMS or acute mountain sickness: Common when going above 10,000 feet (3000 meters) without proper acclimatization. Symptoms include headache, nausea, weakness, shortness of breath, vomiting, and problems sleeping.
HAPE or high altitude pulmonary edema: Rare below 8,500 feet (2,500 meters) More common with younger (under 18) hikers and persons who have had the problem before. Symptoms develop 24 to 60 hours after arrival at high altitude, and include coughing, shortness of breath, weakness, headache, rapid heart rate, and progress to constant coughing, bloody sputum, fever and chest congestion. Crackling sound in chest, resting pulse rate of 110 respirations per minute, and respirations over 16 per minute are early signs of HAPE. Death is usually within 12 hours after coma starts.
CE or cerebral edema: Less common than AMS or HAPE, but more dangerous. Rare below 11,500 feet (3,500 meters). Symptoms include increasingly severe headache, instability, mental confusion, hallucinations, loss of vision, facial muscle paralysis, loss of dexterity, restless sleep followed by coma and death.
A canvas campateer
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