Useful Tips for Sichuan Mountain Sickness and Counter-Measures

Traveling to western and northern Sichuan involve visiting, walking and sleeping at high altitude. Travelers may suffer from Mountain Sickness due to change of altitude and your physical condition to adapt to the altitude. It is important to learn the risks, precautions of Mountain Sickness before you travel to western Sichuan where its elevation is usually above 3500 meters and at many places over 4000 meters.

High Altitude

Anywhere that is over 2400 meters (8000 ft) above sea level is high altitude place. Most places in western and northern Sichuan are at over this altitude: Kangding is 2500m, Yading is 4100m, Daocheng is 3800m, Genyen is 3900m, Litang is 4000m, Sertar is 3900m, Mt. Siguniang Base is 3100m, Minya Konka base is 3400m...

Theoretically, one goes from 0 meters to 4000 meters will require a minimum of 12 days to ensure your body gets fully used to the altitude, meaning daily raise in elevation is no more than 400 meters. In reality one doesn't have this much time to do the perfect acclimating.

Oxygen Level

• By sea level, oxygen percentage is 20.9%;
• By 1200m oxygen percentage is 17.9%;
• By 2400m oxygen percentage is 15%;
• By 3600m oxygen percentage is 13%;
• By 4800m oxygen percentage is 11.5%;

If you go over 5500 meters, oxygen percentage drops down to 10.4%, below half of what it is at sea level.

Two types of Mountain Sickness

• A. AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness): Altitude-related but not life-threaten symptoms.
• B. Altitude Sickness: Altitude-related life-threaten symptoms: HACE(High Altitude Cerebral Edema) and HAPE(High Altitude Pulmonary Edema)

A is the usual symptoms of mountain sickness. B is severe mountain sickness, usually developed from A.

Symptoms of AMS:

• Headache;
• Dizziness;
• Asitia;
• Nausea;
• Vomitting;
• Lethargy.

Precautions of AMS:

• Keep yourself hydrated;
• Walk high and sleep low;
• Avoid strenuous excercise;
• Avoid drinking alcohol or taking hypnotics;
• Keep yourself warm;
• Use diamox in advance.

Symptoms of HACE

• Early Stage: Similar to moderate & severe AMS, headache, fatigue, vomiting
• Later Stage: Gait Ataxia (can not walk stable), change of mental state (hysteria), Lethargy, coma.

Counter-Measures for HACE

• For light symptons: inhale oxygen, rest, use diamox.
• For severe symptons: go low for minimum 500m, use dexamethasone. Normally HACE sufferer recovers quickly once they go low.

Symptons of HAPE (from light to severe)

• Extreme fatigue;
• Hard breathing even while resting;
• High heart rate even while resting;
• Constant expectoration (usually foam-like, when color becomes pink, it's terminal stage);
• When breathing, there is rattling sound in the lung;
• Blue or gray lip color;
• Fever;
• Hysteria, Respiratory failure; loss of conscious.

Counter-Measures for HAPE

• For light symptoms: inhale oxygen (usually useful), rest, eat food, use nifedipine.
• For severe symptoms: go low for minimum 500m, use dexamethasone send to hospital asap.