Ibuprofen may prevent altitude sickness

Interesting. Altitude sickness results from the body being unaccustomed to the lower partial pressure of oxygen in air at higher altitudes (even though the air concentration of O2 remains at 21%, the partial pressure of oxygen drops due to drop in atmospheric pressure at high atmosphere). People are capable of acclimating to high altitude and the physiological response of the body during acclimation is to produce greater quantites of blood cells. Hemoglobin, the main functional component of red blood cells is what binds oxygen at the lungs and delivers it to the rest of the body. There are also genetic factors in some populations, like the sherpas, who inherit a higher hemoglobin content/per cell from birth and are just more efficient at extracting oxygen than other people given the same concentration of red blood cells.

Now its interesting that Ibuprofen alleviates AMS. If I were to guess, I'd suspect it is related to its so-called blood thinning ability (like aspirin), which does not actually cause blood thinning but does interfere with blood clotting ability. If this would be the case, I would predict that Ibuprofen would show large differences in effecacy across groups, probably little effect on athletes which amazing cardiovascular function and high effect on fat old bastards like me. I guess I would also predict that aspirin would have the same effect. These are of course just logical guesses and speculation building on what the article refused to say. Interesting stuff though. Next time I'm wheezing on a hillside I'll pop an ibuprofin :D

Thanks for the article. I used to teach about AMS as a case study in one of my courses a few years back on respiratory function.
 
Might arginine/nitric oxide supplements also have a positive effect, or am I off track?
 
In all seriousness ( :) ) when I was stationed in Turkey on the Black Sea coast, we used to take occasional bus trips up to a small town on the plateau. We walked up the hills and really felt some difficulty breathing up there -- and watched the little kids running up and down hill alongside us. I used to carry a small flask with 1/3 Drambuie, 2/3 Chivas Regal, and sipping this on the climb alleviated any difficulty breathing. Or I thought it did! I wan't really suffering the way some of the guys did, though.
 
Viagra was originally intended to help altitude sickness. Seems the extra oxygen had some, um, unanticipated side effects;).
 
NevadaExplorer - Thanks for the info and the link to the article. I never really gave AMS much thought until I was high up in Colorado (11,000'+) one fall on an elk hunt. Threw up for 2 days with a pounding headache that never entirely went away. I knew I should have gone down lower, but did end up with a nice bull. I don't hunt those elevations anymore. I will definately try out the advise if in those circumstances again.
 
This is interesting to know. There are times when I get AMS and times that I don't. Never seems to be a reason either way, but I always have Advil in my first aid kit so will have to try it.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
In all seriousness ( :) ) when I was stationed in Turkey on the Black Sea coast, we used to take occasional bus trips up to a small town on the plateau. We walked up the hills and really felt some difficulty breathing up there -- and watched the little kids running up and down hill alongside us. I used to carry a small flask with 1/3 Drambuie, 2/3 Chivas Regal, and sipping this on the climb alleviated any difficulty breathing. Or I thought it did! I wan't really suffering the way some of the guys did, though.
Click to expand...

Or maybe you just felt good enough that you didn't really care?:D

Carl.
 
My first trip to Colorado, while living in NYC, I got altitude sickness. Went skiing and could not stay on my skis. Didn't understand what was happening. After that I found the best cure ever, I moved here. :D
 
Just chiming in, about 4 or 5 years ago I went with family to Cuzco, Peru where I got a bad bout of altitude sickness. A transition of roughly 4,000 feet to 11,000 feet will do that! For reasons I don't recall, I took Dramamine and it helped curb the effects until I became acclimated.
 
Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory so it makes sense that it may alleviate some symptoms of altitude sickness. It is not an anti-coagulant unless it has been taken for so long or in such a high dose that it is causing liver damage. Taking too much of any ansaid like ibuprofen can also cause ulcers.
 
I always coped successfully with hi altitudes by hydrating well, and exercising. It seems like just walking around up high starts the process of aclimatising.
 
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