Long-term effects of altitude sickness?

[Jimbo-in-debt]

I'm in my final year at university and hoping to start my PPL this summer (at long last...) with a view to a career in commercial flying.

I'm lucky enough to be doing a (university) medical research expedition to Bolivia in August which is investigating the effects of high altitude on the body. It will involve four days of acclimatisation in La Paz (~3600m amsl), and then ten days at the laboratory (5200m up in the Andes doing the research itself), followed by a week or so of 'time to ourselves'...ie recovery!

I think it's fair to say that most of us are anticipating some degree of altitude sickness, and hoping and praying for nothing more serious like high altitude pulmonary / cerebral oedema (yummm....). My question is, are there likely to be any long-term / 'permanent' effects either of altitude sickness or more generally of spending time so high?!

What I'm particularly keen to establish is whether the experience might do something that might prevent me from maintaining a Class 1 medical. I haven't actually got my Class 1 yet but am hoping to do it in the next few weeks. For what it's worth I'm 22, physically pretty fit thanks to lots of running/cycling, and generally take my health pretty seriously.

Thanks in advance for any info or thoughts...much appreciated,

Jimbo.

PS Anybody who's interested:
http://www.apex-altitude.com/

[cortilla]

I watched a program on the discovery channel (or national geographic) recently on a study doing the same thing as yourselves. The scientists wanted to find methods to predict who would be susceptible and who would not. It was done in the alps, so search and rescue could get to them quickly incase of emergency (and yes it was needed). Firstly a study was done on the ground and then they went high up (lower altitudes than yourselves though with little acclimitisation)on foot and spent about a week in a well heated cabin. I can't remember what the results were, but it seems like the possible long term effect is death. One of the candidates (who they had predicted would be susceptible) got extremely ill, and noone realised because he didn't come to complain to the scientist he was feeling poorly, eventhough the expedition leader did check on everyone several times during the night. In the end the candidate had to be airlifted off the mountain, and he recovered fairly quickly on the ground. The doctors thought he would have died had he stayed up on the mountain for much longer.

Very interesting program, and if i can find the name of it i'll post it here.

[Windle Poons]

Was in Nepal about 18 months ago, and travelling with a doctor, who had a friend doing research into HACE and HAPE at Pheriche Hospital, which is at 4,600 metres and a days walk from Everest, and we visited him at the hospital on our way back down. The two docs chatted about a load of stuff, most of which went over my non-medical head, but it was interesting nonetheless, and I wrote down a few bits in my diary. One of these ‘bits’ was a web site:

www.high-altitude-medicine.com (http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com)

It should have an answer to your query, but if not you could always e-mail the webmaster who I think is a doctor in Oregon, USA.

Hope this helps and have fun……

Windle Poons

[QDMQDMQDM]

There should be no long-term consequences of such a short stay at altitude. You'll find the locals tend to be short and squat with barrel chests, have high haemoglobins and thus high oxygen-carrying capacity, but they were born there.

The most likely chronic effect of high altitude exposure in a traveller is an abnormally high haemoglobin concentration, which could theoretically lead to a stroke, particularly if combined with dehydration. However, since the life of a red blood cell in the normal circulation is 120 days you'd have to be at altitude for a lot longer than two weeks for the increased red cell production occasioned by chronic hypoxia to have a marked effect.

Acute mountain sickness and high altitude pulmonary and cerebral oedema are much more likely to be the problem -- I presume you'll be taking along some nifedipine, dexamethasone and acetazolamide, just in case? And remember -- immediate descent is the only cure. The pills buy time, nothing more.

Have a nice one. Sounds fun.

QDM