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Related Experiment Videos

Pressurization and acute mountain sickness

B Kayser1, D Jean, J P Herry

  • 1Département de Physiologie, Centre Médical Universitaire, Genève, Switzerland.

Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine
|October 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Early use of portable pressure chambers slightly delays acute mountain sickness (AMS) symptoms in unacclimatized individuals ascending rapidly. However, this intervention does not prevent AMS or reduce its overall severity upon appearance.

Area of Science:

  • Altitude Medicine
  • Physiology
  • Environmental Health

Background:

  • Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a common concern for trekkers at high altitudes.
  • Portable pressure chambers have been anecdotally reported as effective AMS treatments.
  • The efficacy of early pressurization for preventing AMS during rapid ascent has not been well-studied.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if early, short-term pressurization can prevent or delay AMS symptoms in unacclimatized individuals during rapid high-altitude ascent.
  • To test the hypothesis that a 3-hour exposure in a portable pressure chamber upon arrival at high altitude mitigates AMS.

Main Methods:

  • 51 healthy subjects rapidly ascended from 1,030m to 4,360m in the Alps within 12 hours.
  • Upon arrival, subjects' AMS scores, oxygen saturation (SaO2), and heart rate (HR) were measured.

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  • Subjects were randomly assigned to a 3-hour pressurization group or a control group.

    • Main Results:

    • Immediately after treatment, the pressurization group showed a significant decrease in AMS scores and an increase in SaO2 compared to the control group.
    • However, by the following morning, AMS scores, SaO2, and HR were similar between the pressurized and control groups.
    • The intervention demonstrated a slight delay in AMS onset but did not prevent its occurrence or reduce its severity.

    Conclusions:

    • Early 3-hour pressurization offers a temporary improvement in AMS symptoms and oxygenation following acute altitude exposure.
    • This intervention does not provide a long-term preventative effect against AMS development or severity.
    • Further research may explore different pressurization protocols or combinations with other acclimatization strategies.