Physiological responses during ascent to high altitude and the incidence of acute mountain sickness

Cobb, A.B., Levett, D.Z.H., Mitchell, K., Aveling, W., Hurlbut, D., Gilbert-Kawai, E., Hennis, P.J. ORCID: 0000-0002-8216-998X, Mythen, M.G., Grocott, M.P.W. and Martin, D.S., 2021. Physiological responses during ascent to high altitude and the incidence of acute mountain sickness. Physiological Reports, 9 (7): e14809. ISSN 2051-817X

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Abstract

Acute mountain sickness (AMS) occurs when there is failure of acclimatisation to high altitude. The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between physiological variables and the incidence of AMS during ascent to 5300 m. A total of 332 lowland-dwelling volunteers followed an identical ascent profile on staggered treks. Self-reported symptoms of AMS were recorded daily using the Lake Louise score (mild 3-4; moderate-severe ≥5), alongside measurements of physiological variables (heart rate, respiratory rate (RR), peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO 2) and blood pressure) before and after a standardised Xtreme Everest Step-Test (XEST). The overall occurrence of AMS among participants was 73.5% (23.2% mild, 50.3% moderate-severe). There was no difference in gender, age, previous AMS, weight or body mass index between participants who developed AMS and those who did not. Participants who had not previously ascended >5000 m were more likely to get moderate-to-severe AMS. Participants who suffered moderate-to-severe AMS had a lower resting SpO 2 at 3500 m (88.5 vs. 89.6%, p = 0.02), while participants who suffered mild or moderate-to-severe AMS had a lower end-exercise SpO 2 at 3500 m (82.2 vs. 83.8%, p = 0.027; 81.5 vs. 83.8%, p < 0.001 respectively). Participants who experienced mild AMS had lower end-exercise RR at 3500 m (19.2 vs. 21.3, p = 0.017). In a multi-variable regression model, only lower end-exercise SpO 2 (OR 0.870, p < 0.001) and no previous exposure

Item Type: Journal article
Publication Title: Physiological Reports
Creators: Cobb, A.B., Levett, D.Z.H., Mitchell, K., Aveling, W., Hurlbut, D., Gilbert-Kawai, E., Hennis, P.J., Mythen, M.G., Grocott, M.P.W. and Martin, D.S.
Publisher: Wiley Open Access
Date: 27 April 2021
Volume: 9
Number: 7
ISSN: 2051-817X
Identifiers:
NumberType
10.14814/phy2.14809DOI
1434815Other
Rights: © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions: Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by: Jeremy Silvester
Date Added: 15 Jul 2021 15:57
Last Modified: 15 Jul 2021 15:57
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/43493

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