What is altitude sickness?

Altitude sickness is a  kind of problematic situation for any human being or risk above the altitude region of 8,000(2,400m). In the altitude region you may feel the short breath as you acclimate, difficulty sleeping, vomiting, and headaches and it goes upon the onset of human pulmonary edema or any of the fluid on the lungs. Those are the common serious symptoms of AMS.

Talking about trekking in Nepal you must be careful about some of the situations which make take place while walking to the major Himalayan peaks of a country. It is so much important to acclimate to going slowly by trekking in Nepal. Nepalese guides will help you to maintain these by recommending having a nap at a lower altitude region during the time of trekking.

There are massive interesting places where you can have wonderful treks in Nepal. Some of the places are Everest Base camp, Everest Three passes, Island peak climbing, etc, and so on. The Everest base camp trek is almighty and a wonderful trek that can be a breathtaking moment in your life. Including this, you may also trek to another important region of a country.

Types of altitude sickness

The different types of altitude sickness are explained below:
Acute Mountain sickness (AMS). AMS is a kind of mindset which is very common in all. Most of the symptoms can feel like a hangover like headaches, nausea, dizziness, and so on.

High altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE); HAPE is also a building form of fluid collected on the Lungs which may be dangerous and can even be life-threatening.

High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE): It is also another important type of altitude sickness that normally happens when there is fluid in a human brain. This is obviously life-threatening and you must have to seek medical attention immediately. 

Altitude sickness symptoms

According to the various research and outdated outcomes made by the various organizations on health and research throughout the world have given some symptoms of altitude sickness. Some of them are briefly explained below.  

You might have: Headache
This condition eventually occurs when you go high. There might be the same problem due to the more hitting of air in your head. So you should have a warm type of head cap to ensure you are safe from the cold. 

Dizziness

Dizziness is a certain form of feeling that contains a woozy, lightheaded, or unbalanced situation. This will affect mainly sense organs, especially the ears and eyes. This may also lead patients to faint and you can not see the thing properly.

Nausea

Nausea is a sensation or a feeling that urges the victim to vomit. It can be said to be short-lived and acute or it can take a long-term effect which is a debilitating symptom. Nausea can occur physically or psychologically in origin. It creates problems in brains or any of the organs like the upper gastrointestinal tract i.e small intestine, pancreas, liver stomach, and gallbladder.

Vomiting

This occurs by forcibly emptying the stomach of a person who suffers and the stomach will overcome some pressure which normally holds a place to keep secretions within it. Causes of vomiting infections, problems with the brain and central nervous system, and so on. 

Shortness in breath

During the time of trekking, there may occur some kind of problem like shortness of breath. It happens when you go altitude by walking and without having proper rest in the body. These symptoms are also seen when altitude sickness pressures you. When this occurs you must be aware of the situation. 

Problems in sleep

At the same time, you may have some sleep and this is the most dangerous situation when you start seeing such an event from time to time. Sleeping may be disturbed and not get a good sleep so patients may suffer from very unimaginative conditions. 

Fluid in the lungs can cause the following:
  • a persistent dry cough, often with pinkish sputum
  • fever
  • panting, even while resting
Signs of swelling of the brain include:
  • a persistent headache that does not respond to painkillers
  • unsteady gait or clumsiness
  • increased vomiting
  • the gradual loss of consciousness
  • numbness
  • dizziness

It is the sickness that can be considered fatal and the onset that determines the onset of a pink frothy form of liquid to your nose and mouth, breathlessness during the time of resting, loss of coordination, severe headaches, and vomiting which should be treated as AMS. This is the best remedy to descend that is the one and only process of treatment that take place only in serious condition. 

Altitude sickness acclimatization

There are various research and study on acclimatization. We have also prepared many things that you should not do to maintain the balance for normal health. During the time of trekking in Nepal, the travel agency will help you get appropriate acclimatization when you reach the altitude region. 

There are some regulations and rule capsules for trekkers that climb high and sleep low. You must ascend to another comfortable height during the daytime and descend a bit so that you can sleep well at night. If you go the rounded and zig-zag route it will help you more to adjust to the condition of low oxygen pressure.

You are not recommended to take shortcuts because it will hamper your health. This will also not follow the rule of sleeping low, so you must be very careful during the time of trekking and book your trip from some of the trusted companies in Kathmandu.

Causes

Talking about the causes of altitude sickness occurs when you start ascending from the great altitude or height region it starts rapidly.

In the upper base of the sea, there may be the atmospheric concentration of oxygen which is approximately 21 percent and the other important thing is barometric pressure which averages 760 millimeters of mercury mm of Hg.

In the higher altitude region, it does not change the form of atmospheric oxygen concentration. At the same time, the number of oxygen molecules per breath may differ from person to person and decrease.

At an altitude of 5,500m above sea level, you may breathe approximately half of the oxygen which is obvious. You must have to breathe as much as faster so that you will consume oxygen shortfall and your heart will beat faster. This will raise your faster blood oxygen levels and don’t meet sea level concentrations.

There may be a loss of energy and you may not be able to put your energy to get a further walk to the designed point 

Conclusion

This is the most important part of travel and trekking to any of the latitude regions of any country. Especially Nepal has a lot of Himalayas and most tourists also prefer to trek here in the Himalayas. So that there are a lot of problems that arise due to the unsafe and immature trekking system. This is always important to know about altitude sickness. We have briefly explained the possible factor that will create most travelers to go through certain conditions while trekking to the altitude region of the country.