Symptoms and Precautions of High Altitude Sickness

Symptoms of High Altitude Sickness

High Altitude sickness includes acute high altitude sickness, high altitude brain edema, and high altitude pulmonary edema and so on. Come into plateau for a short time, will appear headache, dizziness, palpitation, short breath and other symptoms; the serious will appear appetite lost, nausea, vomit, insomnia, tiredness, abdominal distension, chest distress and so on. For the acute high altitude sickness, the main method is precaution.

Precaution of High Altitude Sickness

There are two ways to prevent high altitude sickness, sufficiently adapt to the environment and medicine precaution. There are some tips about adaptive training.

1. If can, please don't take plane or bus to a high altitude place directly. Walking from the place lower than 3048 meters will be better.

2. If you reach the height by plane or bus directly, please don't do excess activities or climb up higher in 24 hours. When the height over 3048 meters, you should only climb 305 meters in a day. When the height adds 915 meters, you should take a rest for a day.

3. If you appear the symptoms of high altitude sickness, please don't go to higher places before the symptoms relieving.

4. You should keep plenty of water in the body. During the process of adapting to environment, there will appear dehydration. So you must drink large amount of water to maintain water (3-4 liters of water every day).

5. When you first reach high altitude places, you should relax yourself as much as you can; don't force yourself. It is better to do some light activities than sleeping on bed. Because the breath function will decrease when you sleep, this will make the symptoms worse.

6. Don't smoke, drink alcohol or take some calming effect drugs; like barbiturate, tranquillizer and sleeping pill. During sleeping, these tranquillizer drugs will decrease the breathing system function and make the symptoms become worse.

7. Eat high-carbohydrate foods (70 percent of calorie come from carbohydrate).

Except these, there are some tonics can help to prevent high altitude sickness:

Rhodiola and its preparation: it is traditional tonics of Tibetans. It is useful for enhancing physique, relieving high altitude sickness. You can take it for ten days before setting off.

Genseng: it is helpful for relieving tiredness, enhancing physique and relieving high altitude sickness.

Quick Acting Heart Reliever: it is used for emergency high altitude sickness.

Salvia Pill: used to treat cardiovascular disease. It can relieve high altitude sickness.

Glucose liquid: it is effective for high altitude sickness.

For people with strong adaptive ability, the symptoms will disappear in one or two days; people with weak adaptive ability will need three to seven days to adapt the environment. Drink some butter tea will have effect on high altitude sickness.

If the symptoms have not disappear for a long time and very serious, you should quickly come to hospital for treat.