Medical and Performance Problems of Acute High Altitude-Exposure,

Of the numerous medical problems associated with acute exposure to high terrestrial elevations, the Armys research efforts have focused principally, though not exclusively, on the most common of the disorders, acute mountain sickness AMS or soroche. This self-limiting syndrome of unacclimatized individuals is characterized by headache, lassitude, insomnia, gastrointestinal symptoms and general malaise which usually become manifest within 4 to 8 hours after arrival, peak between 24 and 48 hours and gradually remit over 4 to 8 days. Experience at our Pikes Peak Laboratory 4,300 meters indicates that approximately 60 percent of the soldiers so exposed experience symptoms severe enough to functionally incapacitate them as efficient combat troops. At altitudes higher than 4,300 meters one can expect a disproportionate increase in both the severity of symptoms and the number of individuals in whom they will occur. Research efforts at our laboratory to prevent this illness have met with some success we are now able to reduce symptom intensity at 4,300 meters by 85 through a combination of residence for 4 days at 1,600 meters plus the administration of 500 mg of acetazolamide b.i.d. for the last 2 days at 1,600 meters and the first 2 days at 4,300 meters.