Preventing Acute Mountain Sickness Using Acetazolamide: Study

Researchers compared the efficacy and risks associated with increasing doses of acetazolamide.

Bengt Kayser and colleagues, University of Geneva, Switzerland, reviewed the data compiled on more than 1,000 subjects and describe the relationship between efficacy in preventing and treating AMS, risk of side effects, and increasing drug dosages. They discuss their findings in the article "Reappraisal of Acetazolamide for the Prevention of Acute Mountain Sickness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis."

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Unless the baseline risk of AMS is high, as with rapid transport to high altitude (as opposed to a slow ascent), acetazolamide has limited effectiveness. Some side effects occur with even the lowest doses of the drug, whereas others appear to be dose-dependent. The authors suggest that treatment be tailored for the individual depending on AMS risk and acceptability of the most common side effects such as increased urination, numbness and tingling, and taste disturbance.

"This is a valuable contribution on the pros and cons of using the most important medication for preventing and treating acute mountain sickness," says John B. West, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of High Altitude Medicine & Biology and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Source-Eurekalert

Acetazolamide
Acetazolamide is prescribed to treat excess fluid accumulation due to congestive heart failure.

It is also used to treat glaucoma or increased pressure in the eye, seizures or epilepsy, mountain sickness, periodic paralysis or muscle weakness, and to reduce the increased pressure in areas surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

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