Current prevention and management of acute mountain sickness.

The prevention of acute mountain sickness – the effect of theophylline and acetazolamide in prevention of acute mountain sickness

Acetazolamide in prevention of acute mountain sickness: a double-blind controlled cross-over study.

Twenty-four amateur climbers took part in a double-blind controlled cross-over trial of acetazolamide versus placebo for the prevention of acute mountain sickness. They climbed Kilimanjaro (5895 m) and Mt Kenya (5186 m) in three weeks with five rest days between ascents. The severity of acute mountain sickness was gauged by a score derived from symptoms recorded daily by each subject. On kilima...

Ibuprofen prevents altitude illness: a randomized controlled trial for prevention of altitude illness with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories.

STUDY OBJECTIVE Acute mountain sickness occurs in more than 25% of the tens of millions of people who travel to high altitude each year. Previous studies on chemoprophylaxis with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are limited in their ability to determine efficacy. We compare ibuprofen versus placebo in the prevention of acute mountain sickness incidence and severity on ascent from low to hig...

Wilderness Medical Society practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of acute altitude illness: 2014 update.

To provide guidance to clinicians about best practices, the Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel to develop evidence-based guidelines for prevention and treatment of acute mountain sickness, high altitude cerebral edema, and high altitude pulmonary edema. These guidelines present the main prophylactic and therapeutic modalities for each disorder and provide recommendations about ...

Altitude illness: risk factors, prevention, presentation, and treatment.

Altitude illness affects 25 to 85 percent of travelers to high altitudes, depending on their rate of ascent, home altitude, individual susceptibility, and other risk factors. Acute mountain sickness is the most common presentation of altitude illness and typically causes headache and malaise within six to 12 hours of gaining altitude. It may progress to high-altitude cerebral edema in some pers...