14 DAY TRIAL // [IMG=1]A new study carried out by Stewart Jackson, J. Kenneth Baillie, and colleagues from University of Edinburgh, Scotland and Muhimbili University College of Health Science, Tanzania, advises mountain climbers to acclimatize to high altitudes before starting an ascension on high peaks like Mount Kilimanjaro.
The research assessed the incidence of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) among trekkers of this very popular destination, and recommended that people should not ignore the warning signs of an AMS, as it can lead to more serious health problems.
The researchers recruited climbers on 3 different ascent itineraries, using the Lake Louise consensus scoring system (LLS), and also tested the effect of prophylactic acetazolamide and different climbing profiles.
In other words, they compared the effects of three increasingly difficult and rapid climbing routes, the incidence of a single rest day during the ascent and the effects of the use of prophylactic acetazolamide, by a sub-group of climbers.
Jackson and Baillie noted that between climbers that used prophylactic drugs and those that did not, there was no significant difference concerning the AMS rate, and the results were similar for the severity of LLS too.
Also, a day of rest at the middle of the climb had no incidence on AMS, so the researchers concluded that only thing that protects trekkers fro AMS, is prior acclimatization to very high altitude (they noticed a reduction of AMS incidence in subjects who were pre-acclimatized).
John B. West, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of High Altitude Medicine & Biology and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, says that “this important article emphasizes the dangers of rapid ascent rates on a mountain that attracts thousands of visitors every year.
“Hopefully it will help to reduce the high frequency of high altitude diseases,” he adds.
The study is entitled 'Incidence and predictors of acute mountain sickness among trekkers on Mount Kilimanjaro,' and it was published in the current issue of High Altitude Medicine & Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.