[The pathophysiology of acute mountain sickness].

The hypoxia that increases in altitude environment and results from conditions dissimilarity, is the main cause of different forms of the altitude sickness. These range from benign form, called acute mountain sickness (AMS), to the states of direct threat to life, like high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE). Each organism demonstrates individual, different sensitivity to the conditions of altitude environment. Prior stays on heights help to develop kind of individual memory, which together with physical preparation meaningly decreases, however does not exclude completely, probability of being taken ill. Growing interest in high-mountaineering makes the altitude sickness one of the challenges of modern medicine.