More detail

Interested in more detail than appears in the The Unofficial Guideline?
Here is a collection of background documents prepared for the reader who wishes to know more.

West ridge above East Sunrise Lake (Yosemite)

Detailed explanation of normal acclimatization

When an individual ascends to high altitude, the body begins an acclimatization process. That process involves the lungs, heart, kidney and endocrine system. Click here for more information on what is happening in the body during normal acclimatization.

WMS altitude illness risk table

In 2010 and 2014 the Wilderness Medical Society published guidelines for the prevention and treatment of Acute Altitude Illness. Each of those publications include a table intended to help assess an individual’s risk of developing Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) during travel to high elevations. With permission from the publisher, we are providing the AMS Risk Table from the 2014 guidelines. Click here for the WMS risk table.

Preventatives and treatments of high-altitude illnesses

The best method for acclimatization is slow ascent. Slow ascent is often not an option and rapid ascent to high altitudes is common. Consequently, there has been multi-decade research effort to study medications and other methods for reducing the risk of altitude illness. Recurrent questions about the effectiveness of various drug and herbal therapies have been raised the Facebook Altitude Acclimatization Group. This document contains a brief summary of the preventatives and treatments that discussed on Facebook. Click here for a survey of preventatives and treatments.

NSAID research

Questions about the effectiveness of NSAIDs as a preventative of altitude illness periodically appear in the Facebook Altitude Acclimatization group. Here’s a brief (and far from comprehensive) survey of the research literature. Click here for a review of the research on NSAIDS.

Beet root research

Beetroot has been touted as a preventative of altitude illness. Here’s a brief (and far from comprehensive) survey of the research literature. The benefits of beetroot derive from being a source of dietary nitrate. Nitrate participates in the physiological process that increases blood flow. Other vegetables are also a source of dietary nitrate. Click here for a review of the research on beet root juice.

Coca research

Coca has been touted as a preventative of altitude illness. Here’s a brief (and far from comprehensive) survey of the research literature. Click here for a review of the research on coca.

Ginkgo biloba research

Questions about the effectiveness of ginkgo biloba’s as a preventative of altitude illness periodically appear in the Facebook Altitude Acclimatization group. Here’s a brief (and far from comprehensive) survey of the research literature. Click here for a review of the research on ginkgo biloba.

Prediction of Acute Mountain Sickness using Pulse Oximetry

There has been an ongoing research effort to identify an objective method based on clinical signs to determine if an individual is acclimatized as a way to predict who will get AMS. Researchers have sought to find a correlation between decreased oxygen saturation and AMS. The effectiveness of pulse oximeters for predicting AMS is an active area of research. Click here for a survey of the research on pulse oximeters.

Northern approach to Donahue Pass