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· Acute mountain
sickness (AMS)
It is neither a curse nor a physical defect. It is the consequence
of an incomplete acWeathertization to high altitude.
One person out of two is affected by AMS, and one out of one
hundred may present serious complications (pulmonary and cerebral
edema).
Symptoms appear within 4 to 8 hours after reaching high altitudes,
general higher than 3.500 m.
Clinical Symptomathology
It is characterized by a series of disorders associating:
Headache, Sleep disturbance, Loss of appetite, Nausea.
Often, dyspnea (shortness of breath), dry cough and sometimes
dizziness are also associated.
This bad acWeathertization can be manifested in the form of
localized edema in eyes, hands and ankles. Somo affected people
present reduced urine output (olyguria).
Mountain sickness
Clinical score stablished according to observed signs.
| HEADACHE |
1 point
|
| INSOMNIA |
1 point
|
| NAUSEA OR LOSS OF APPETITE |
1 point
|
| DIZZINESS |
1 point
|
| CEPHALAGIA RESISTENT TO ASPIRIN |
2 point
|
| VOMITS |
2 point
|
| DYSPNEA AT REST |
3 point
|
| ANORMAL FATIGUE |
3 point
|
| OLIGURIA |
3 point
|
| SCORE |
DEFINITION |
TRATMENT
|
| 1 to 3 |
Mild
|
Aspirin or Paracetamol
|
| 4 to 6 |
Modetate
|
Aspirin, rest, stop
the ascention
|
| More than 6 |
Severe
|
Descent
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Acute mountain sickness must neither be ignored
nor concealed. Often, due to ignorance, the first symptoms
are more likely to be caused by uncomfortable shelter, the
changes in feeling habits or fatigue. Many people attribute
the presence of AMS to signs of weakness and conceal its symptoms.
Even the best mountaineer can suffer mountain sickness.
PULMONARY EDEMA:
is characterized by shortness of breath and a gurgling sound
when breathing. The lips and frequently the ears become purple
or bluish (cyanosis), there maybe frothy and sometimes pink
(blood tinger) sputum. This symptoms is often manifested at
night, after a hard day.
BRAIN EDEMA:
is characterized by fatigue or extreme weakness and abrupt
and shooting vomits. Headache become unbearable not soothing
with aspirin. Other symptoms is often drunken like waking,
dizziness and behavioral alterations.
These symptoms can rapidly
lead to comma. Sometimes there is no headache but great fatigue
or balance disturbances. In both cases, there is extreme urgency,
and it is imperative to descend or put the victim in a hyperbaric
chamber before descending.
This may be useful to improve the siskness,
and sometimes it can even cure it. In the case of pulmonary
edema, taking a calcium channel blicker could be helpful.
In both cases, it is also advisable to inject coricoids as
soon as possible.
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