Charles B Duke1, T Douglas Sallade2, Jennifer Starling3, Sushil Pant4, Alison Sheets5, Matthew K McElwee6, David S Young7, Richard Andrew Taylor1, Linda E Keyes8. 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. 2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA. 3. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado and Colorado Permanente Medical Group, Saint Joseph Hospital, Denver, CO. 4. Mountain Medicine Society of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal. 5. Boulder Emergency Physicians, Boulder, CO. 6. Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatic and Autoimmune Diseases, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. 7. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO. 8. University of Colorado Emergency Medicine and Boulder Emergency Physicians, Boulder, CO. Electronic address: linda.keyes@aya.yale.edu.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: A history of preexisting hypertension is common in people participating in mountain activities; however, the relationship between blood pressure (BP), preexisting hypertension, and acute mountain sickness (AMS) is not well studied. We sought to determine these relationships among trekkers in the Everest region of Nepal. METHODS: This was a prospective observational cohort study of a convenience sample of adult, nonpregnant volunteers trekking in the Everest Base Camp region in Nepal. We recorded Lake Louise Scores for AMS and measured BP at 2860 m, 3400 m, and 4300 m. The primary outcome was AMS. RESULTS: A total of 672 trekkers (including 60 with history of preexisting hypertension) were enrolled at 2860 m. We retained 529 at 3400 m and 363 at 4300 m. At 3400 m, 11% of participants had AMS, and 13% had AMS at 4300 m. We found no relationship between AMS and measured BP values (P>0.05), nor was there any relation of BP to AMS severity as measured by higher Lake Louise Scores (P>0.05). Preexisting hypertension (odds ratio [OR] 0.16; 95% CI 0.025-0.57), male sex (OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.37-0.96), and increased SpO2 (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.87-0.98) were associated with reduced rates of AMS in multivariate analyses adjusting for known risk factors for AMS. CONCLUSIONS: AMS is common in trekkers in Nepal, even at 3400 m. There is no relationship between measured BP and AMS. However, a medical history of hypertension may be associated with a lower risk of AMS. More work is needed to confirm this novel finding.
INTRODUCTION: A history of preexisting hypertension is common in people participating in mountain activities; however, the relationship between blood pressure (BP), preexisting hypertension, and acute mountain sickness (AMS) is not well studied. We sought to determine these relationships among trekkers in the Everest region of Nepal. METHODS: This was a prospective observational cohort study of a convenience sample of adult, nonpregnant volunteers trekking in the Everest Base Camp region in Nepal. We recorded Lake Louise Scores for AMS and measured BP at 2860 m, 3400 m, and 4300 m. The primary outcome was AMS. RESULTS: A total of 672 trekkers (including 60 with history of preexisting hypertension) were enrolled at 2860 m. We retained 529 at 3400 m and 363 at 4300 m. At 3400 m, 11% of participants had AMS, and 13% had AMS at 4300 m. We found no relationship between AMS and measured BP values (P>0.05), nor was there any relation of BP to AMS severity as measured by higher Lake Louise Scores (P>0.05). Preexisting hypertension (odds ratio [OR] 0.16; 95% CI 0.025-0.57), male sex (OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.37-0.96), and increased SpO2 (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.87-0.98) were associated with reduced rates of AMS in multivariate analyses adjusting for known risk factors for AMS. CONCLUSIONS:AMS is common in trekkers in Nepal, even at 3400 m. There is no relationship between measured BP and AMS. However, a medical history of hypertension may be associated with a lower risk of AMS. More work is needed to confirm this novel finding.
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