Amateur mountaineers take unnecessary risks

Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, is becoming more and more popular amongst amateur climbers. Of those 25,000 climbers who crest the summit each year, the majority do not know enough about the risks of altitude sickness, which is potentially lethal in some cases.

A University of Edinburgh study, published in High Altitude Medicine and Biology, saw researchers camp at 4,730 meters for 3 weeks. During this period, they screened more than 200 mountaineers, and nearly half of these climbers suffered symptoms of altitude sickness. Most of the people had not experienced these symptoms before. They also did not know enough about the possible outcome or how to prevent it. The team also found that on this steep trek, neither rest nor drugs could prevent the effects of altitude sickness.

Due to the increasing number of climbers, scientists saw there is an urgent need to educate the mountaineers about the dangers. Therefore, researchers published an online guide about altitude sickness, which can be accessed at www.altitude.org.

The symptoms of a mild altitude sickness are similar to a very bad hangover and can cause high-altitude oedema, an accumulation of fluid in the lung caused by the lack of oxygen, or high-altitude cerebral oedema, a fluid accumulation in the brain.