Tips for a Trip to the Mountains - Article Example

Tips for a Trip to the Mountains Planning a trip up the mountains? These tips may help you..... If you plan to travel to visit Tibet anytime in the future, be warned that the need to adjust to the high altitudes could make you sick, unless you take appropriate steps to avoid the onset of illness. Acute Mountain Sickness is a medical condition that affects any kind of traveller who moves too fast to a high altitude typically above 2400 metres. Since almost every place worth visiting in Tibet is at an altitude higher than 2500m, the tips provided below may help prepare you for your journey, so you can avoid illness and enjoy your visit. Ten tips for travelling to high altitudes: (1) Be fit before you travel: It is very important that you are fit before you travel to Tibet. The journey into Tibet is likely to be a test for your health, so if you have a cold, flu or are otherwise suffering from any illness, make sure you are completely recovered and strong before you book your travel. In this way, you can avoid posing any risks to yourself and your health and ensure that your time and money are well spent in a pleasant, enjoyable trip. Make sure you get plenty of rest before you fly into Tibet and spend the first day of your vacation taking it easy; do not attempt any strenuous climbing..............................................(111 words) (2): Take daily doses of the drug, Coenzyme10: Before embarking on a journey up a plateau or a mountain, it may be advisable to take the drug Coenzyme 10 for a week before actually making the journey. A dosage of 100 to 200 mg per day is recommended, because it may be helpful in promoting better oxygen optimization at the cellular level.(Weil, 2008). If you plan to be in Tibet for short periods and break your journey in between by travelling to other places, do not stop taking the drug during the interval you are away but continue with it throughout the duration of the time you will be in Tibet, up until the day you actually leave..................................................(110 words) 3. Plan a phased ascent: and 4. Don’t climb to altitudes above 2500m in a single day Plan a phased ascent up the mountain, wherein you ascend only about 300 feet per day rather than aiming to arrive at your destination all at once. Your body needs time to adjust itself to the change in altitude and the lower levels of oxygen that are present up the mountains, which make the air rarefied. As the body climbs up into the higher altitudes, adaptations may occur, such as a reduction in the maximal heart rate response and a lower peak cardiac output (Bartsch and Saltin, 2008), in order to adjust to the rarefied air. As a result of such adaptations, the end result of the acclimatization process is that despite the reduced levels of oxygen in the atmosphere, the arterial levels of oxygen remain essentially unaltered, because there is better oxygenation of blood in the lungs through an increase in the SaO2 content. This helps the body to adjust to the change in altitude without suffering the associated adverse consequences which produce illness. This outcome can be achieved if the acclimatization process is carried out slowly and the adjustment to the altitude change is made gradually rather than suddenly. Climbing too much in one day only means the body must make a greater adjustment, which will put more stress on it, so avoid this and your climb will be much more pleasant....224 words. 5. Sleep at lower altitudes during the night: During the night, try to sleep at an altitude that is lower than the one where you spent the rest of the day. Night temperatures can be much lower than day temperatures up in the mountains and the body will be expending considerable energy towards maintaining its optimum temperature of 98 degrees Farenheit. This means that in an individual with lower immunity levels, there is an increased likelihood of suffering from colds and the symptoms of acute mountain sickness. At lower levels the oxygen content will be higher, so the body can work less hard during the night and thus ensure that you feel better, avoiding disturbed sleep and changed breathing patterns during the night.........................115 words 6. Carry headache medication: One of the most common symptoms of Acute Mountain sickness is headaches. (Bartsch and Saltin, 2008). There is no conclusive evidence to support the causes why headaches occur at high altitudes, but it has been determined that the lower levels of oxygen may not be the causal factor, because inhaling additional oxygen does not appear to help the condition. The only cure may be to return to sea level. Taking headache medication like aspirin or ibuprofen may be helpful. If the headache is very severe, medications for migration such as sumatriptan (lmitrex) may be very helpful in alleviating the headaches.....................................100 words 7. Get plenty of water and carbohydrates: When you are travelling up the mountain, ensure that you drink at least three to four litres of water every day, and eat plenty of carbohydrates, so that they provide more than 70% of your actual calorie requirement per day. This will provide your body the strength and hydration it needs in the rarefied atmosphere at upper levels. Mountain sickness is characterized by symptoms such as nausea and reduced appetite which lead to weakness and dehydration, so you may unconsciously eat less and be less equipped to deal with the environment. Drinking plenty of fluids and eating well should prevent these symptoms...........................102 words 8. Avoid tobacco and sleeping pills: Ensure that you avoid tobacco and do not smoke at higher altitudes. The lack of oxygen make sit difficult enough to breathe and carry out body functions normally, you will not help matters if you try to smoke. Similarly, do not take drugs like sleeping pills or tranquilizers, they will not help you sleep any better because these may actually worsen the symptoms associated with acute mountain sickness, such as nausea and giddiness. These drugs hinder the body’s process of optimizing oxygen utilization at higher altitudes and providing you the energy you need and could thus aggravate your symptoms.......................99 words 9. Go down if symptoms worsen: If you feel too ill as you climb and your symptoms start to worsen, climb down and don’t proceed upwards. While ascending to heights above 3500m, hypoxia or low oxygen levels may impair cranial function and cause cerebral edema, as demonstrated in a study carried out at the London Hospital (Anonymous, 2009). This study investigated changes in pupil size, the speed of reaction and the extent of constriction or dilation of the pupil with the hypoxia that is caused by changes in altitude and concluded that there was a clear effect of hypoxia on cerebral function, but this was only in the case of high altitude climbers, while climbing to lower levels produced only moderate symptoms of mountain sickness. While climbing to altitudes more than 3500 metres, it is even more important to allow acclimatization, to prevent swelling of the optic disc. In a study that was carried out on cerebral edema in mountain climbers, the findings suggested that swelling of the optic disc occurs when mountaineers climb up to high altitudes and this is linked with cerebral edema (Zeller, 2008). The study correlated the incidence of optic disc swelling with peripheral oxygen saturation and concluded that this condition was most likely caused due to brain volume increase that occurs with hypoxia or the presence of low levels of oxygen and this may be the reason why it is so prevalent among high altitude mountaineers. Avoid the dangers of cerebral enema and optic disc swelling by returning down if you fell too ill...........................253 words 10. Stay at one altitude longer: If you are able to complete the ascent successfully with minimal symptoms or if have been able to deal effectively with the symptoms and are none the worse for wear, then it may be advisable to stay on at the higher altitude for a few days to allow the body to adjust its maximal heart rate and cardiac output for a few days. Allowing a period of adjustment before attempting to descend and subject the body to further changes in oxygenation levels would make the process of acclimatization more efficient and reduce the negative effects..............95 words. Interview with Dr. Andrew Weil (Weil, 2008): Q. What causes headaches, dizziness and nausea at high altitudes? A. We’re not really sure what causes the headaches that come with Acute mountain sickness, although we do know it’s not caused purely by oxygen deficiency since breathing in oxygen does not appear to relieve the headaches. The best way to get relief is to move back to lower altitudes. Q. Some mountaineers recommend taking the drug diamox (acetalazomide) as a preventive measure before climbing, because it minimizes the symptoms of AMS. What are your thoughts on this? A. Well, Diamox helps you to breathe faster and thus minimizes the symptoms caused by lower oxygenation. But I would recommend the drug Coenzyme 10 in relatively high doses instead. You could start taking the drug about a week before climbing and it’s effective in improving oxygen utilization at the cellular level. A dosage of about 100 to 200 mg a day would be very helpful throughout the duration of the trip. Q. Are there any dos and donts associated with climbing to high altitudes, in order to prevent AMS? A. Well, I would suggest that you DO drink plenty of water and eat lots of carbohydrates, which would be helpful in alleviating symptoms such as nausea and dizziness. DONT smoke, take tranquillizers, barbiturates or similar kinds of drugs because they only make the condition worse. Q. There have been reports of cerebral edema occurring at high altitudes which pose a danger to health. What would you suggest to prevent such conditions? A. At the outset, let me make it clear that research which has been carried out into these conditions has shown that conditions such as brain and pulmonary edema tend to occur only when there is rapid ascent to heights above 3500 metres. Below this height, you are more likely to suffer from nausea, headaches, dizziness, loss of appetite or disturbed sleep. The drugs I’ve suggested earlier may help, but if you find the conditions persisting, the best cure may be to go back down to a lower level. References: Anonymous, 2009. “ Altitude sickness: Reports from Royal London Hospital highlight recent research in altitude sickness”, Health and Medicine Week, February 16, 2009, at pp 1230. Bartsch, P and Saltin, B, 2008. “General introduction to altitude adaptation and mountain sickness”, Scandanavian Journal of Medicine and Science, 18(1) at pp 1 Weil, Andrew, 2008. “High altitude headache?”, Edmonton Journal, July 7, 2008, page D3. Zeller, John L, 2008. “High incidence of optic disc swelling at very high altitudes”, Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(2) at pp. 152 Read More