Treatment of altitude sickness

Treatment of altitude sickness or acute mountain sickness? What factors increase the risk of altitude sickness? What are first aid or medical procedures for altitude sickness?

If you have a headache along with another symptom of altitude sickness within a day or two of changing altitude, you may have a form of altitude sickness . If your symptoms are more severe, you need medical attention right away.

Factors that increase the risk of altitude sickness

Anyone can get altitude sickness, regardless of their age, health or fitness, even Olympic athletes can get it. In fact, the higher the physical activity at altitude, the greater the likelihood of developing acute mountain sickness.

The likelihood of developing altitude sickness depends on a few factors: how quickly you move to a higher elevation, how high you go, how high you sleep, and other factors.

The risk of altitude sickness increases depending on how high you live compared to where you travel, your age (young people are more likely to get it), and whether you've had altitude sickness before.

Having certain diseases such as diabetes or lung disease does not make you more likely to develop altitude sickness. But your genes can play a role in your body's ability to handle high altitude.

We advise you to follow the steps to prevent altitude sickness , to try to avoid developing symptoms at heights as much as possible.

Treatment of altitude sickness

During the treatment process for altitude sickness, your doctor listens to your chest with a stethoscope or takes an X-ray of your chest, MRI or CT scan of your brain to look for any fluids.

Knowing the symptoms of altitude sickness will help you seek treatment early, before the condition progresses. The most important treatment for any level of altitude sickness is to descend to a lower altitude as soon as possible while staying safe.

If you have a severe and advanced case of altitude sickness, you will need to descend to a lower altitude immediately, which should be less than 4,000 feet. You should see a doctor as soon as possible and may need to go to the hospital.

If you have altitude-induced cerebral edema (HACE), you may need a steroid called dexamethasone.

If you have altitude-induced pulmonary edema (HAPE), you will need supplemental oxygen and may need medications, along with moving to a lower altitude.