{"id":13450,"date":"2025-06-30T10:00:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=13450"},"modified":"2025-06-30T11:39:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T17:39:19","slug":"altitude-sickness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/altitude-sickness\/","title":{"rendered":"Know if you have altitude sickness and when to worry"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_70349\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-70349\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-70349\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/06\/16091941\/istock-woman-man-hiking-web.webp\" alt=\"woman hiking, which could cause altitude sickness in Colorado.\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-70349\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: iStock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Last time you went skiing in Vail, you had a headache all day and didn\u2019t sleep well that night. When your relatives from Florida came to visit last summer and got sick up in Aspen,\u00a0it probably wasn\u2019t a bug. You \u2014 and they \u2014 may have had altitude sickness.<\/p>\n<p>Living on the Front Range, even at 5,000 or 6,000 feet, doesn\u2019t make you immune to it, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/todd-bull-md-critical-care-medicine\/\">Dr. Todd Bull<\/a>, medical director of the UCHealth <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/services\/respiratory-lung-care\/comprehensive-lung-breathing-program\/\">Comprehensive Lung and Breathing Program<\/a> located on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Metro Denver. Bull is also the director of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-pulmonary-vascular-disease-clinic-anschutz\/\">UCHealth\u2019s Pulmonary Vascular Disease &#8211;\u00a0Anschutz Medical Campus\u00a0<\/a>program and oversees the <a id=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.coloradowm.org\/programs\/clinic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">High Altitude Clinic<\/a> within the PVD program.<\/p>\n<p><strong><div class=\"su-callout-box col-xs-6 col-sm-6 right\" style=\"background-color:#dce4e7; color:#2e3b44;\"><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/climbing-the-worlds-tallest-peaks-despite-deadly-prostate-cancer-diagnosis\/\">Climbing the world&#8217;s tallest peaks despite deadly prostate cancer diagnosis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/understanding-high-altitude-sickness\/\">Understanding high altitude sickness<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cMany people in Colorado experience various stages of altitude sickness every day. You can get it even just going from Denver to 10,000 or 11,000 feet,\u201d said Bull, a Grand Junction native.<\/p>\n<p>Though it is fairly common, it often is not identified as altitude sickness, he said, which makes it hard to establish how often it really happens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is difficult to put exact numbers to this,\u201d Bull said, although \u201creported incidence in visitors sleeping 8,000 feet or higher is between 15 and 40 percent.\u00a0The incidence depends on how high people are going (and from what starting altitude)\u00a0and how fast they ascend.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_70374\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-70374\" style=\"width: 189px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-70374 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/16104556\/Dr-Todd-Bull-web.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Todd Bull, medical director of the UCHealth Comprehensive Lung and Breathing Program, speaks about altitude sickness.\" width=\"189\" height=\"250\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-70374\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Todd Bull, medical director of the UCHealth Comprehensive Lung and Breathing Program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Milder symptoms include headache, insomnia and nausea, but victims can also suffer more serious consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Altitude sickness can become acute mountain sickness, which includes cerebral edema (HACE) or pulmonary edema (HAPE), both of which can be life-threatening, he said.<\/p>\n<p>The risk factors are related to the rate of ascent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf someone comes from Florida or Texas and goes right up to Winter Park or Vail, it\u2019s more likely to happen than if they acclimate more slowly,\u201d he said. If coming from sea level, he suggested the visitor stop in Denver or Colorado Springs or somewhere along the Front Range for a night to acclimate to that altitude first. About 24 hours should be sufficient.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat helps decrease the incidence and severity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He also suggested avoiding significant alcohol intake during the first 24 to 48 hours because it can exacerbate the problem. Also, avoid sedatives, such as benzodiazepines\u2014\u201cThey can sometimes worsen it, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Who gets altitude sickness<\/strong><strong>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s no definitive answer to that, he said. It doesn\u2019t seem to be related to age or sex, although people with underlying heart and lung issues may be more vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOther than that, there doesn\u2019t seem to be any other pre-defining risks we can identify at this point,\u201d Bull said, though it is an active area of investigation at the University of Colorado. \u201cAnd if you\u2019ve had it before, the likelihood of getting it again is higher.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-13454 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/15014640\/ThinkstockPhotos-509090710.jpgeee.webp\" alt=\"A person looks at mountains from a nearby peak. Many people in Colorado experience various stages of altitude sickness every day.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/15014640\/ThinkstockPhotos-509090710.jpgeee.webp 1200w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/15014640\/ThinkstockPhotos-509090710.jpgeee-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/15014640\/ThinkstockPhotos-509090710.jpgeee-1024x683.webp 1024w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/15014640\/ThinkstockPhotos-509090710.jpgeee-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/15014640\/ThinkstockPhotos-509090710.jpgeee-150x100.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/12\/15014640\/ThinkstockPhotos-509090710.jpgeee-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The principle behind altitude sickness is simple, though there are many aspects that remain poorly understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s really going on here is you see lower levels of oxygen and air pressure\u2014almost anyone can be vulnerable, given the right conditions. There is local vasoconstriction due to local hypoxia (or low oxygen). This can induce both the mild forms of the condition and also the more severe effects. And the faster and higher you go, the higher the risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>UCHealth has a High Altitude Clinic specifically for the assessment of altitude sickness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPatients from all over the world come here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had patients who have tried to climb Everest and couldn\u2019t who are looking for help. \u201c<\/p>\n<p>In fact, he added, \u201cOur cardiovascular and pulmonary research program helped define much of what we now know about the pulmonary vascular effects of high altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Are you less likely to experience problems at 10,000 feet if you already live at 5,000 or 6,000 feet?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cWe are less likely. People who come here from lower altitudes are more susceptible, of course,\u201d he said. Visitors can even get altitude sickness on the Front Range, but the symptoms are usually mild and don\u2019t last long. \u201cSerious issues really rarely occur at this altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How can I prevent altitude sickness?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Hydration:<\/strong> \u201cStaying hydrated is good and avoid alcohol at first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Acclimation<\/strong>: Go up in increments, allowing the body time to adjust to each level before moving up to the next.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Exertion<\/strong>: \u201cAs you are acclimating, limiting your level of exertion can help. Also, get plenty of rest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Medications<\/strong>: \u201cThere are medications we can give to patients who we think are high risk. Discuss this with your physician.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oxygen<\/strong>: \u201cIf the situation is acute, then oxygen can be administered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Descent:<\/strong> \u201cGet back to a lower altitude. This is the most important and most effective treatment always. Getting to a lower altitude is most imperative in severe cases\u2014and oxygen should be administered as a temporizing measure at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about the High Altitude Clinic offered through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/services\/respiratory-lung-care\/comprehensive-lung-breathing-program\/\">Comprehensive Lung and Breathing Program<\/a> in Metro Denver, call <span class=\"baec5a81-e4d6-4674-97f3-e9220f0136c1\">855.586.4824<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last time you went skiing in Vail, you had a headache all day and didn\u2019t sleep well that night. When your relatives from Florida came to visit last summer and got sick up in Aspen,\u00a0it probably wasn\u2019t a bug. You \u2014 and they \u2014 may have had altitude sickness. Living on the Front Range, even [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":70349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2728,2597,235,3357,9187,209],"class_list":["post-13450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-altitude-sickness","tag-comprehensive-lung-and-breathing-program","tag-emergency-care","tag-lung-and-respiratory-care-pulmonology","tag-readysetco","tag-urgent-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Know if you have altitude sickness &amp; when to worry - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People in Colorado experience various stages of altitude sickness every day. 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