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Altitude sickness, also known as acute mountain sickness (AMS), altitude illness, or soroche, is a pathological condition that is caused by acute exposure to low air pressure (usually outdoors at high altitudes). It commonly occurs above 2,400 metres (approximately 8,000 feet).[1][2] Acute mountain sickness can progress to high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high altitude cerebral edema (HACE).[1][3]
The cause of altitude sickness is still not understood.[1][4] It occurs in low atmospheric pressure conditions but not necessarily in low oxygen conditions at sea level pressure. Although treatable to some extent by the administration of oxygen, most of the symptoms do not appear to be caused by low oxygen, but rather by the low CO2 levels causing a rise in blood pH, alkalosis. The percentage of oxygen in air remains essentially constant with altitude at 21% up until 70,000 feet (21,330 metres) but the air pressure (and therefore the number of oxygen molecules) drops as altitude increases – consequently, the available amount of oxygen to sustain mental and physical alertness decreases above 10,000 feet (3,050 metres) .[5][6] Altitude sickness usually does not affect persons traveling in aircraft because modern aircraft passenger compartments are pressurized at an air pressure equivalent to an altitude of 8,000 feet (2,440 metres).
A related condition,[citation needed] occurring only after prolonged exposure to high altitude, is chronic mountain sickness, also known as Monge’s disease.[7]
An unrelated condition, although often confused with altitude sickness, is dehydration, due to the higher rate of water vapor lost from the lungs at higher altitudes.
High altitude or mountain sickness is defined when someone feels sick at high altitudes, such as in the mountains or any other altitude-related sicknesses. It is hard to determine who will be affected by altitude-sickness as there are no specific factors that compare with this susceptibility to altitude sickness. However, most people can climb up to 2500 meters (8000 feet) normally.
Generally, different people have different susceptibilities to altitude sickness. For some otherwise healthy people, Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) can begin to appear at around 2000 meters (6,500 feet) above sea level, such as at many mountain ski resorts, equivalent to a pressure of 80 kPa. AMS is the most frequent type of altitude sickness encountered. Symptoms often manifest themselves 6-10 hours after ascent and generally subside in 1 to 2 days, but they occasionally develop into the more serious conditions. Symptoms include headache, fatigue, stomach illness, dizziness, and sleep disturbance. Exertion aggravates the symptoms.
High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and cerebral edema (HACE) are the most ominous of these symptoms, while AMS, retinal hemorrhage, and peripheral edema are less severe forms of the disease. The rate of ascent, altitude attained, amount of physical activity at high altitude, as well as individual susceptibility, are contributing factors to the onset and severity of high-altitude illness.
Altitude sickness usually occurs following a rapid ascent and can usually be prevented by ascending slowly.[8] In most of these cases, the symptoms are temporary and usually abate as altitude acclimatisation occurs. However, in extreme cases, altitude sickness can be fatal.
The word “soroche” came from South America and originally meant “ore”, because of an old, incorrect belief that it was caused by toxic emanations of ores in the Andes mountains. [1]
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