Mountain Sickness

2024 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 07:39

Altitude sickness is a type of altitude sickness

Mountain sickness is a painful condition that occurs when climbing high mountain areas. Mountain sickness is a type of altitude sickness that occurs due to oxygen starvation (hypoxia) when climbing to significant heights. A similar state is familiar to climbers, geologists when climbing to a height or ascending by car. The deterioration of well-being during lifting was first described by Acosta. In more detail, the effect of height on the human body began to be studied only in the nineteenth century.

Altitude Sickness Causes

Altitude sickness usually begins to manifest itself at an altitude of about two and a half thousand meters above sea level. It is believed that the main cause of altitude sickness is the low concentration of oxygen in the inhaled air. However, the oxygen concentration remains constant at different altitudes. With increasing altitude, atmospheric pressure changes, and because of this, the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in the air begins to vary. The body receives less oxygen at altitude than is required for the normal functioning of the human brain and body.

Symptoms and pathogenesis of altitude sickness

Mountain sickness rarely comes on suddenly, but most often it develops gradually. Its first symptoms are muscle weakness, apathy, dizziness, drowsiness, and malaise. Symptoms of the disease increase if a person stays on top. Vomiting, nausea, fever, chills, and respiratory distress appear.

Mountain sickness quite often occurs in people with cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases.

In the pathogenesis of altitude sickness, the stage of adaptation and the stage of compensation, as well as the stage of decompensation and, in fact, the disease, are distinguished.

The stage of compensation occurs at an altitude of one thousand to four thousand meters above sea level. At this stage of altitude sickness, tachycardia, shortness of breath occur, and blood pressure rises as a result of reflex stimulation of the cardiovascular and respiratory centers (with irritation of chemoreceptors by hypoxemic blood).

At an altitude of four to five thousand meters, the excitation of the cells of the cerebral cortex increases and internal inhibition is weakened. Against the background of a lack of oxygen, a significant release of blood from the depot occurs, erythropoiesis is activated in the bone marrow, and the number of erythrocytes in the peripheral blood increases. Very often at this stage of development of altitude sickness, writing skills are lost, irritability appears, and handwriting changes.

The stage of decompensation develops at an altitude of five thousand meters or more. Hyperventilation of the lungs leads to a decrease in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the tissues. As a result of the development of acidosis and gas alkalosis, excitability decreases, especially of the cardiovascular and respiratory centers. Excitement and euphoria of the body is replaced by depression of the central nervous system and depression. At this stage of the disease, drowsiness, fatigue develop, most reflexes are inhibited, many functions of the digestive tract are inhibited, due to pronounced myocardial hypoxia, blood pressure significantly decreases. Microcirculation is disturbed, breathing becomes uneven. At an altitude of six to eight thousand meters, paralysis of the respiratory center can lead to respiratory arrest.

According to changes in external respiration and blood, two main forms of altitude sickness are distinguished - emphysematous and erythremic. In some cases, serious complications (cerebral and / or pulmonary edema) can develop at a lower altitude.

Prevention of altitude sickness

Before traveling to heights of five to eight kilometers, it is first necessary to adapt the respiratory, muscular, cardiovascular and hematopoietic systems. To prevent altitude sickness, it is best to first climb relatively low altitudes. With a long stay at a low altitude, changes occur in the body that allow maintaining normal vital activity.

Observations have shown that mountain climbers, who very often climb the mountains, hardly suffer from altitude sickness.

For each person, adaptation to a lack of oxygen takes a different time. At a young age (from 24 to 35 years old), acclimatization occurs relatively quickly. Already after about a week of being at an altitude of two to three thousand meters, the compensatory mechanisms of the body are activated, as a result of which the volume of pulmonary ventilation increases, the number of erythrocytes and the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood increases, the forms of dissociation and oxygen capacity of the blood change, the alkalinity of the blood increases, and muscle hypertrophy develops. hearts. As a result of activation of the body's compensatory mechanisms, the resistance of tissues to oxygen starvation increases.

The set of measures for acclimatization increases the body's endurance. For the prevention of altitude sickness, it is very important to properly organize nutrition and water-salt regime while staying at a significant altitude. During the adaptation period of the body, it is very important to drink a large amount of liquid (about three liters per day). The liquid accelerates the excretion of under-oxidized metabolic products by the kidneys. To accelerate acclimatization, it is also recommended to take sodium citrate, ammonium chloride, hypochlorous potassium, as well as intravenous methylene blue and inhalation of carbon dioxide.

Before climbing, to speed up adaptation, it is also very useful to systematically train in a pressure chamber using a special method.

Ultraviolet irradiation and inhalation of oxygen-depleted gas mixtures are very important methods of preventing altitude sickness.

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The information is generalized and provided for informational purposes only. At the first sign of illness, see your doctor. Self-medication is hazardous to health!