Altitude sickness
The changes that occur with altitude sickness are not related to the physiological changes of the human body, but the changes to the atmospheric pressure (Zafren, 2014). The human body needs time to acclimate to the changes that occur due to the atmospheric changes. The oxygen availability is relatively the same 21 %, throughout elevation changes (Brown & Grocott, 2012). The greatest risk of altitude sickness are people who live at sea level and fly to an area with an altitude of 8,200 feet (Fiore, Hall, & Shoja, 2010). This is due to the rapid change in altitude without acclimatizing. The symptoms for altitude sickness include a headache, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting and difficulty sleeping. These symptoms are also known as Acute mountain sickness (AMS) with high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) being life threating.
Traveling to a faraway place to many travelers is their dream to explore. But, there is a higher risk for people for AMS that also have an underlying chronic disease. The increase in elevation decreases the arterial oxygenation saturation may worsen chronic conditions including pulmonary hypertension, COPD, and uncompensated CHF (Fiore et al., 2010). The ethical and legal issues are important for the FNP caring for patients with a chronic condition, include communicating the risk of AMS, HACE and causing an exacerbation of an illness when traveling to areas with a high altitude.
References
Brown, J. P., & Grocott, M. P. (2012). Humans at altitude: physiology and pathophysiology. Anesthesia, Critical Care & Pain, 13(1), 17-22.
Fiore, D. C., Hall, S., & Shoja, P. (2010, November 1). Altitude illness: risk factors, prevention, presentation, and treatment. American Family Physician, 9, 1103- 1110.
Zafren, K. (2014). Prevention of high-altitude illness. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 12(), 29-39.