29.05.2014 - (idw) Europische Akademie Bozen - European Academy Bozen/Bolzano
X. World Congress on High Altitude Medicine and Physiology & Mountain Emergency Medicine, held in Bozen/Bolzano
Anyone who spends time at altitude in excess of 2500 metres can have difficulties, sometimes against all expectation, in adapting to these heights. They may subsequently complain either of minor ailments such as headache, dizziness, disturbed sleep, or may experience more serious consequences of altitude sickness, which can be fatal. The first interim findings were presented on 28 May 2014 by the organisers of the congress run by the EURAC Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine in South Tyrol, together with their research colleagues. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world travel to, work in or live in mountainous regions. The stress caused by high altitudes causes many health problems as their body seems to be incapable of adapting to such conditions. Studies presented at the congress by mountain medicine experts indicate that around 15% of the population living in the South American Andes suffer from chronic altitude sickness with severe effects on their everyday lives. The Sherpas in Nepal as well as the population of Tibet, on the other hand, are largely resistant to altitude sickness. Genetically they were able to adapt gradually to such conditions over hundreds of generations, and this seems to determine whether people are sensitive to high altitudes or not. The Tibetans have populated The Roof of the World for many centuries. They have adapted superbly to such altitudes in terms of their genetic development. The inhabitants of the Andes, on the other hand, have not been able to adapt fully to their present habitat since they have not been settled there long enough. This is the conclusion drawn by Hermann Brugger and Giacomo Strapazzon from the Bozen/Bolzano EURAC Institute for Alpine Emergency Medicine, summarising the research findings presented at the congress. What has not been fully understood by scientists is which factors are primarily responsible for acute altitude sickness. This serious illness, which can lead to a brain or lung oedema, is the most frequent cause of death amongst mountaineers. On the occasion of the World Congress, the scientists presented new studies, demonstrating for the first time how, with the aid of ultrasound, the risk of altitude sickness can be diagnosed early. The studies showed a direct link between an enlarged optic nerve, measured with ultrasonography techniques, and altitude sickness. The results presented at the congress are based on the so-called Ortler Study carried out in 2011 by EURAC medical experts Brugger and Strapazzon in collaboration with the glacier scientists located on the Ortler Mountain.
The X. World Congress on High Altitude Medicine and Physiology & Mountain Emergency Medicine will discuss latest global research findings and new developments in mountain rescue techniques; topics related to mountain emergency medicine will feature on the programme for the first time in the history of the congress.
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Further important findings for mountain medicine expected