Preventing Altitude Sickness

A sign warning of altitude sickness at the Mou...
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Seeing the world through traveling can be a rewarding and exciting experience. However, even when soaking in new sights, safety should be a top consideration—especially when exploring areas that are unfamiliar and that the body is not accustomed to. Altitude sickness, or acute mountain sickness, is an illness that plagues many travelers. Mountain climbers or tourists visiting destinations at high altitudes should be aware of the signs of altitude sickness and know preventative measures and treatment options so they can ward off the symptoms and enjoy their trips as fully as possible.

As altitude increases, the number of oxygen molecules inhaled per breath decreases, so the body must operate with less oxygen. Travelers can begin to experience mountain sickness at 8,000 feet, but most do not feel the symptoms until over 12,000 feet. Most people experience mountain sickness because they attempt to climb too high too quickly; if they ascend at a slower pace, the body is able to better adapt to its new surroundings.

Mild mountain sickness can lead the traveler to experience dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, and nausea. As the sickness gets more severe, symptoms include decreasing mental status, fluid build-up in the lungs, and the inability to walk. At this point, travelers should immediately descend to a lower altitude.

Climbers should take precautions to avoid experiencing mountain sickness. A pulse oximeter is a necessary tool for any climber—it can measure the pulse and the blood oxygen saturation, alerting climbers if their bodies are not receiving enough oxygen. Climbers should also avoid ascending to a higher altitude too quickly, and if they begin to feel symptoms, they should not travel further until the symptoms die down. Eating a high-calorie diet can be beneficial for travelers at a high altitude, as well. Travelers can take medications, such as acetazolamide or dexamethasone, before reaching high altitudes as a preventative measure.

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CPAP for a Good Night’s Sleep

CPAP_DeviceSleep apnea can be a debilitating condition, robbing individuals of sleep and affecting their waking performance in every area of their lives. But a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device can alleviate apnea, allowing you to experience untroubled sleep. These devices can be bought used from medical suppliers for reasonable prices.

Sleep apnea occurs in two varieties: obstructive and central. Both types involve an interruption in a person’s intake of air while asleep, which causes the body to wake up. Usually, these instances of waking are brief enough that the person does not remember them in the morning, but if they occur frequently enough during the night, they can cause symptoms of sleep deprivation. Sleep apnea usually manifests as excessive snoring, interruptions in breathing patterns while asleep, or as excessive, seemingly-inexplicable fatigue while awake.  Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles of the airway relax during sleep and occasionally block the flow of air. Muscle relaxation is normal during sleep, but does not result in a blocked airway. Obstructive sleep apnea can be caused by obesity, sleeping position, or a genetic predisposition to narrowed airways. Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain’s signals to the breathing muscles become interrupted, usually due to neurological conditions or heart failure. CPAP therapy is effective at treating obstructive sleep apnea, but cannot treat the neurological basis of central sleep apnea.

A CPAP device consists of a mask that covers the mouth and/or nose, and a compressed air pump attached to the mask via a tube. The pump provides a constant stream of air to the sleeper, which increases air pressure in the throat and prevents the airway muscles from falling closed as they relax during sleep.

Because sleep apnea is a chronic condition which lasts indefinitely, CPAP therapy is likewise ongoing. Sleeping with the mask on may be a significant adjustment at first, and you may experience a few minor side effects such as skin irritation and dry nose, but these should go away after a few days. CPAP devices can be bought used, offering you an uninterrupted night’s sleep for a modest investment.

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Catheters and Sitting in Misery

The word "catheter" actually comes from the ancient Syrian word for "to sit."  The Syrians made the first catheters, which were simply reeds.  Using these reeds to "sit" inside of bodily orifices like plugs, they were a medical tool which could be used to drain out that which should not be in the body any longer.  By inhibiting the body’s ability to close up a wound, and essentially "irrigating" out fluids of some sort, these tubes serve a valuable purpose to medical practice.  However, they can also cause a great deal of suffering to those into whom they are inserted.  After all, catheters have the potential to be very damaging to the people who have them inside their bodies.

A lot of people essentially go to hospitals to get even sicker than they originally were.  And catheters are no exception to this dubious rule.  As a catheter is essentially a foreign object sticking out of (and holding open) a human body, it is pretty much a guaranteed breeding ground for bacteria, as well as a highway by which this bacteria may have easy access to that body.  It has been speculated that of the tens of thousands of deaths due to the "super bugs" (infectious agents which are highly resistant to antibiotics, which breed like rabbits in a hospital setting), a very large number are due to catheters.  In the treatment of urinary catheters, especially, lies the potential for a great deal of infection.  It is in direct, constant contact with bodily waste, after all.

But of course, catheters can be useful, and most likely do save some lives due to their intended "drainage and irrigation" functionality.  Urinary catheterization is useful in the removal of the aforementioned body waste, and can also drain urine from the kidney by percutaneous nephrostomy.  Catheters can also collect fluid, as in cases such as abdominal abscesses.  They can also be used in veins, such as during angiograph, balloon sinuplasty, angioplasty and balloon septostomy.  A catheter can also be introduced into a vein or an artery, and used to measure blood pressure or intracranial pressure.

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