Summer, travel and medication Part 4 - Mountain Sickness and Heat Stroke
Author: Eddy De Vos
Article source: http://www.articledeshboard.com/. Used with author's permission.
Mountain Sickness
One can prevent acute mountain sickness (symptoms are headache, lack of appetite, nausea, dizziness and feeling very tired, these symptoms are found shortly after climbing above 2500 m) by reducing the speed at which one is climbing to these higher altitudes, thus giving the body more time to adjust. Medical prophylaxis is rarely advisable, unless in people who had mountain sickness before or when a rapid ascent is needed (during a rescue operation for instance). Acetozolamide is the product of choice, but dexamethason is a good alternative when the first medication is not tolerated or has contra-indications. Please refer to a specialized physician for more advice on this matter. The preventive use of aspirin, ginkgo biloba, spironolaction and furosemide has not been scientifically proven.
When confronted with the acute symptoms of mountain sickness it is best to stop the climb, take rest and preferably start to descent again. Normally the symptoms will disappear after a few days of acclimatization. In the mean time painkillers like Tylenol and medication against motion sickness can offer some relief. It is very important though to recognize the symptoms of mountain sickness in an early stage since this condition can rapidly cause fatal brain and/or lung edema.
Heat Stroke
In order to try to avoid a heat stroke, a person showing symptoms caused by an access of heat, should be rehydrated (orally and intravenously) and cooled down. Heat stroke itself needs an emergency treatment (rapid cooling and carefully rehydrating). Some medication can aggravate the risk and the degree of severity of a heat stroke. Talk to your doctor to find out if you are taking this kind of medication. In the event of a foreseeable heat wave, it could be considered to evaluate the use of these medications or even temporarily stop the treatment. This kind of evaluation should only be done by the medical staff however; this is not something you can decide on your own. Talk to your doctor.
Alcohol and drugs like cocaine and ecstasy can worsen the effects of a heat stroke.
This was part 4 of a series of 6 articles about travel and medication. The other parts being: Part 1 Vaccinations - Part 2 Travelers diarrhea - Part 3 Lyme's disease - Part 4 mountain sickness and heat stroke - Part 5 Malaria - Part 6 motion sickness and jetlag.
Eddy De Vos is the owner of the Spain-Holidays-Advisor.com website, a website about travel and Spain. It contains useful tips for your next trip, be it to Spain or anywhere else in the world. Of course if you are planning a trip to Spain there is no better place to start than Spain Holidays.
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