Useful tips

High Altitude

Travellers to high altitudes, both mountains climbers and trekkers, should be advised of the potential hazard of acute mountain sickness. Even those who are fit run the risk of acute Mountain sickness during rapid ascent to high altitudes if they spend more than half a day above 2,500 metres. A number of studies have shown a correlation between incidence of that disease and altitude: in the Swiss Alps, high altitude sickness have been observed in 9% of climbers at 2,850 meters, 34% at 3,650 metres, and 53% at 4,559 metres.

The occurrence of problems is depended of:

Your physical form. Be in good shape before start climbing.
The speed of the ascent. Avoidance of problems is best achieved by a slow ascent and by maximising the opportunities to acclimatise.
The altitude where you spend the night. By spending the night at a lower altitude than the highest attained during the day is helpful - Climb High Sleep Low¨

Acute Mountain sickness (AMS) is the term used to describe the most common symptoms which include

headache,
nausea,
dizziness,
loss of appetite,
vomiting
insomnia.

If these symptoms are ignored and the affected person continues to ascend, more serious conditions such as:

High Altitude Cerebral
Pulmonary Oedema (HACO & HAPO)

both of which are life threatening can result.

Prevent AMS by:

slow ascent. The difference in altitude between one night camp and the next should not exceed 300 metres
if signs of acute mountain sickness appear, a day of rest must be taken at a lower altitude if possible. If signs persist or increase, the patient must go down at least 500 metres
avoid exhaustion
reduce use of salt
avoid dehydration
Prophylactic acetazolamide has been effective in preventing altitude sickness in susceptible travellers.

High altitude Resource:

Ectotherm Thermal Stress and Specialization Across Altitude and Latitude.

Integr Comp Biol

Acute high-altitude exposure reduces lung diffusion: Data from the HIGHCARE Alps Project.

Respir Physiol Neurobiol

Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of Rosa canina L. biotypes from spontaneous flora of Transylvania.

Chem Cent J

Spatial and temporal distribution of Tabanidae in the Pyrenees Mountains: the influence of altitude and landscape structure.

Bull Entomol Res

Expression profiling of abundant genes in pulmonary and cardiac muscle tissues of Tibetan Antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii).

Gene

Erythrocyte folate content and serum folic acid and homocysteine levels in preeclamptic primigravidae teenagers living at high altitude.

Arch Gynecol Obstet

Genetic differentiation between sandfly populations of Phlebotomus chinensis and Phlebotomus sichuanensis (Diptera: Psychodidae) in China inferred by microsatellites.

Parasit Vectors

Polymorphisms of Angiotensin converting enzyme and nitric oxide synthase 3 genes as risk factors of high-altitude pulmonary edema: a case-control study and meta-analysis.

Tohoku J Exp Med

A strategy for in-flight measurements of physiology of pilots of high-performance fighter aircraft.

J Appl Physiol

CARBON MONOXIDE MEMBRANE CONDUCTANCE AND CAPILLARY VOLUME COMPONENTS OF LUNG DIFFUSING CAPACITY IN HIGH ALTITUDE NEWCOMERS.

J Appl Physiol

[Contraction responses of isolated aortic rings of pika (Ochotona curzoniae) and Sprague-Dawley rat to hypoxia].

Sheng Li Xue Bao

Effects of normobaric hypoxia equivalent to 2,000-m altitude on sleep and physiological conditions of athletes: A study using sheet-type sensor.

J Strength Cond Res

Blood pressure in inhabitants of high altitude of Western Nepal.

JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc

Vitreo-retinal disorders at high altitude in Nepal.

Nepal J Ophthalmol

Eye problems on expeditions.

Travel Med Infect Dis

[The denitrogenation by breathing oxygen-rich gas to prevent altitude decompression sickness].