Its probable first account has been given by Plutarch in his comments on Alexander’s invasion of India: “Many then were the dangers— but the greatest harm came from severity of weathers”. Similarly, a Chinese record mentions of “Lesser Headache Mountains” and the “Greater Headache Mountains” where men’s bodies become feverish, they lose color and are attacked with headache, dizziness and vomiti...

761 Acute Mountain Sickness and High-Altitude Cerebral Edema

Introduction Chronic mountain sickness (CMS) affects people who are native or long time residents of high altitude. It is characterized by an excessive erythrocytosis for the altitude of residence, severe hypoxemia and in many cases, particularly in severe CMS, high altitude pulmonary hypertension (HAPH). CMS usually begins insidiously in adult life associated probably to aging; the clinical pi...

I read with great interest the article by White et al,’ which appeared in the July 1991 issue ofChest. The authors raised several important points concerning the utility of chest radiographs in adults admitted for exacerbations of bronchial asthma, I feel, however, that several aspects oftheir study must be addressed. First ofall, the study is relatively small (n =58) and uncontrolled, and invo...

A randomized two-part study was conducted in order to determine the efficacy of theophylline in the treatment of acute mountain sickness during fast ascent to altitudes >2,500 m. Fourteen healthy male subjects participated in a randomized single-blind placebo-controlled crossover study carried out in a decompression chamber (simulated altitude 4,500 m). A second randomized single-blind, placebo...

altitude,89 and neurotransmitter depletion'0 and membrane depolarisation" may occur. Fluid shifts'213 and endocrine changes'4 are described, but whether they are cause or effect is not clearly established. Acute mountain sickness usually occurs during the first few days at altitude, before respiratory acclimatisation is complete.'5 During this time renal and perhaps other mechanisms partly corr...

Twenty-four amateur climbers took part in a double-blind controlled cross-over trial of acetazolamide versus placebo for the prevention of acute mountain sickness. They climbed Kilimanjaro (5895 m) and Mt Kenya (5186 m) in three weeks with five rest days between ascents. The severity of acute mountain sickness was gauged by a score derived from symptoms recorded daily by each subject. On kilima...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of a portable hyperbaric chamber for treatment of acute mountain sickness. DESIGN Controlled randomised trial over two mountaineering seasons. SETTING High altitude research laboratory at 4559 m above sea level. SUBJECTS 64 climbers with acute mountain sickness randomly allocated to different treatments. INTERVENTIONS One hour of treatment ...

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to document link between hyperventilatory capacity and risk for developing acute mountain sickness (AMS). METHODS This study was carried out at Karakorum Mountain ranges (Northern areas of Pakistan) from March till July 2004. 54 healthy male subjects were enrolled in this study. Arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) of the subjects was measured by the pulse oxi...

Globally, it is estimated that > 140 million people live at a high altitude (HA), defined as > 2,500 m (8,200 ft), and that countless others sojourn to the mountains for work, travel, and sport. The distribution of exposure to HA is worldwide, including 35 million in the Andes and > 80 million in Asia, including China and central Asia. HA stress primarily is due to the hypoxia of low atmospheri...