Science / Medicine : Drug Prevents Mountain Sickness
A blood-pressure drug used to treat the dangerous buildup of lung fluid associated with mountain sickness has been shown to be effective in preventing the problem as well, Swiss researchers reported last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Peter Bartsch and his colleagues at the Swiss School of Sports in Magglingen found that only one out of 10 climbers who received the drug, nifedipine, before a rapid ascent developed fluid in their lungs, compared with seven out of 11 who were given a placebo instead. But they are not recommending that climbers take the drug to prevent symptoms.
Nifedipine, they said, has potentially harmful side effects and “its long-term efficacy and the effects of its withdrawal are not known. . . . The use of drugs in mountain sports can be considered acceptable only when the most important preventive measure, slow ascent to high altitude, has failed.”
People can get mountain sickness if they rapidly climb above 7,200 feet. The thinness of the air causes blood vessels to leak and fluid to waterlog various organs. When it happens in the lungs, the result can be extreme breathlessness, cough and frothy phlegm.
Fluid can also accumulate in the brain, causing headaches, seizures, vomiting, hallucinations and coma. The best treatment is a return to a lower altitude.
