High Altitude Sickness, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes High Altitude Sickness, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases
High Altitude sickness is a disease that can happen when mountain climbers, hikers, skiers, or travelers travel to very high altitudes, normally above 8,000 feet (2,400 meters).
Acute high altitude sickness (HAS) is the mildest and most frequent form of altitude sickness.
Because more people are travel to areas of high elevation for recreational and professional sports, e.g., skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, and biking; acute high altitude sickness has become a greater public health disorder.
When the person moves up (ascend) to higher altitudes, air pressure decreases.
Air still comprises the same proportion of oxygen (21%) at high altitude.
Because of the lower air pressure, there is truly less oxygen available because the air is thinner (it contains less of all of the gases in a given volume).
So, at high altitude, each breath that the person takes will have fewer oxygen molecules.
This suggests that the person has to breathe faster and deeper to get oxygen into the body.
After a few days, the body starts to adapt (acclimatize) to the higher level of altitude that the person is at.
Because of these alterations in the body, there are some typical symptoms that the person will note at higher altitudes while the body is adapting and adjusting to the reduced quantity of oxygen:
1.A higher breathing rate or feeling that the person is breathing more deeply.
2.Shortness of breath on exercise or higher activity (exertion).
3.An alteration in the breathing pattern at night.
4.Disturbed sleep.
5.Passing more urine than usual
There are 3 main types of high altitude sickness (HAS):

1.Acute (mild) altitude or mountain sickness (AMS),
2.High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), and
3.High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE)
High Altitude sickness is caused by decreased air pressure and lower oxygen levels at high altitudes
Altitude sickness forms when the rate of ascent into higher altitudes outpaces the body's ability to adapt to those altitudes due to the reducing levels of oxygen
These actions can trigger altitude sickness:
1.Ascending too rapidly
2.Overexertion
3.Inadequate fluid intake
4.Hypothermia
5.Consumption of alcohol or other sedatives
The symptoms of high altitude sickness are:
1.A throbbing headache worse at night
2.Lack of appetite
3.Feeling sick to the stomach.
4.Feeling weak and tired.
5.Poor sleep/Waking up during the night
Altitude sickness is normally diagnosed by the patient's medical condition
1.Blood tests
2.Brain CT scan
3.Chest x-ray
4.ECG
Treatment:
The initial treatment for altitude sickness is no further climb in altitude.
If symptoms do not recover quickly, descend to a lower altitude
If the person has any signs and symptoms of high-altitude pulmonary edema or high-altitude cerebral edema, they should descend to lower altitude and be seen by emergency medicine doctor.
1.Adapting to high altitudes (acclimatization) occurs after 1 to 3 days
2.Simple painkillers such as ibuprofen or paracetamol
3.Anti-nausea medicine (stemetil)
4.Oxygen
Medicines:
1.Acetazolamide helps to speed the acclimatization
2.Dexamethasone
People with severe High Altitude sickness may need to be admitted to a hospital.
If the patient has fluid in the lungs, treatment may be:
1.Oxygen
2.Nifedipine for high blood pressure
3.Beta agonist inhalers to open the airways
4. Medicine to increase blood flow to the lungs called phosphodiesterase inhibitor
5.If descent is not possible, a portable hyperbaric chamber (Gamow bag) can be made use of to simulate a lower altitude
6.Descent and urgent admission to Hospital

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 High Altitude Sickness
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Ch

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Feb 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370600465

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

High Altitude Sickness,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2018 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes High Altitude Sickness, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What The patient Need to Treat High Altitude Sickness)

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If the patient would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

High Altitude Sickness

A Singapore woman died on Mount Everest from altitude sickness in May 2017.

What is High Altitude Sickness?

High Altitude sickness is a disease that can happen when mountain climbers, hikers, skiers, or travelers travel to very high altitudes, normally above 8,000 feet (2,400 meters).

Acute high altitude sickness is the mildest and most frequent form of altitude sickness.

Because more people are travel to areas of high elevation for recreational and professional sports, e.g., skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, and biking; acute high altitude sickness has become a greater public health disorder.

Roughly one-fourth of Colorado ski area vacationers, two-thirds of climbers on Mount Rainier, and half the people who fly to the Khumbu region of Nepal have acute high altitude sickness.

A more serious form of high altitude sickness is high-altitude edema.

This illness happens when fluid builds up within the lungs, a disorder that can make breathing extremely difficult.

Normally, this happens after the second night spent at a high altitude, but it can happen earlier or later.

What is a high altitude?

1. High altitude is an altitude between 1500-3500 meters (5,000-11,500 feet).

2. Very high altitude is an altitude between 3500-5500 meters (11,500-18,000 feet).

3. Extreme altitude is an altitude above 5500 meters (18,000 feet).

What are the normal responses of the body to altitude?

When the person moves up (ascend) to higher altitudes, air pressure decreases.

Air still comprises