Following the dictum “Climb high and sleep low,” meaning if you climb more than 1,000 feet in a day, come down to sleep at a lower altitude.Taking preventive medications such as acetazolamide or nifedipine.Avoiding strenuous workout for the first 24 hours.This may help your body acclimatize or get adjusted to the decreasing air pressure and oxygen with altitude. Moving slowly towards a higher altitude.Dark urine suggests dehydration and the requirement for drinking more water. If the urine is clear or pale yellow, it indicates adequate hydration. An easy way to assess hydration is to check your urine. This may lead to weakness, confusion, seizures and eventually coma. Too much water can harm you by diluting your body's sodium level ( hyponatremia). Practically, you may only need an additional liter to a liter and a half of water at altitude. While staying hydrated is essential at high altitudes, drinking water over your requirement may not help you. Ultimately, it advances to confusion, unconsciousness and death.ĭoes drinking extra water prevent altitude sickness? If left untreated it may progress to severe breathlessness even at rest, a persistent cough sometimes with blood, chest tightness and severe weakness. HAPE severely decreases the exchange of oxygen in the lungs which may cause breathing difficulties and even death. This condition is known as high altitude pulmonary edema or HAPE. This leads to an accumulation of fluid in the air sacs of the lungs. Severe altitude sickness may cause the tiny blood vessels (capillaries) in the lungs to become swollen and leaky. HACE occurs when brain swelling becomes severe manifesting as headache, confusion, lethargy, lack of coordination, irritability, vomiting, seizures, coma and eventually death if untreated. The swelling puts pressure on the brain, squeezing it against the skull.Īltitude sickness may rarely advance to a more severe form of the illness called high altitude cerebral edema (HACE).
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The dilated blood vessels in the brain may cause headaches and swelling of the brain.
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The low oxygen ( hypoxia) levels in the air and blood cause the blood vessels of the brain to swell (dilate). What does altitude sickness do to your body?ĪMS happens if the body is not able to adjust to the low air pressure and low oxygen at high altitudes.