Travelling at high altitude: what are the hazards?

June Muxworthy writes
My husband and I are contemplating a trip to South America to include Machu Picchu and other large-altitude places in the Andes. I am 72 and suffer from angina pectoris but I take into account myself really lively. Ought to I be taking into consideration visiting these substantial-altitude areas? I would welcome tips from your health care skilled.

Dr Richard Dawood, travel wellness professional, replies
Angina is ache resulting from lowered oxygenation of heart muscle, so a sudden reduction in oxygen strain could perhaps make it worse. Ahead of travelling to large altitude, you should talk about your strategies very carefully with your cardiologist, to verify that you are in a sufficiently secure condition, capable to tolerate the two the decreased oxygen strain and the improved physical exercise that goes with this kind of a trip. You would also need to think about that – as with other remote destinations – there might be no simple accessibility to first-globe medical care in a crisis, and that great health care insurance coverage cover requirements to be in area.

The major difficulty with brief trips to substantial altitude is that they do not enable enough time for acclimatisation. Most men and women are capable of adapting effectively to higher altitude – in the finish. The challenge is to locate an itinerary that enables you to ascend progressively adequate, spending a few days at two or three intermediate altitudes along the way till you are really prepared to carry on. At an altitude of ten,925ft, Cuzco is the staging level for receiving to Machu Picchu: many travelers fly in straight from sea level, in a misguided work to conserve time or cash. Machu Picchu itself is reduced, at 8,000ft, but other common and desirable destinations in South America are considerably larger: La Paz twelve,562ft, Lake Titicaca twelve,507ft. Without arranging items cautiously and allowing enough time, travelling to these remarkable spots will be stressful and unenjoyable.

Dr Richard Dawood is a expert in travel medication at the Fleet Street Clinic (020 7353 5678) and editor of Travellers’ Overall health (OUP)

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About Dr Richard Dawood

Richard is the healthcare director of the Fleet Street Clinic in London and has travelled in more than 100 countries. The fifth edition of his guide Travellers’ Well being: How to Remain Healthy Abroad is due out in autumn.

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Travelling at high altitude: what are the hazards?

The state of lean…..Is it altitude or mindset?

I have just invested the best 25 days of my lifestyle in Colorado considering that just ahead of Christmas. As a Texas girl who has lived in the state of bigger is better and has reversed Variety 2 Diabetes it was an eye opening expertise to say the least. In the 25 days I was in Colorado I can count on my two hands the number of junk food dining establishments. The minute we crossed into Texas the first town had ten in a row on the very same street. Inside days of arriving in Colorado I received a Facebook notification of the biggest and leanest states and guess who was the leanest? Colorado. They proposed the question was it altitude or mindset. I can say from living there on holiday for virtually a month it is more about mindset.

Most places we went there have been no quick food restaurants, just local house cooked establishments. The greater cities had them but not as many as we have here in Texas. At every place irrespective of the size of the town there was a vegetarian/vegan alternative and often many. Even the Denver mall food court was a wholesome assortment of food choices as nicely as strictly healthful foods and juices. Soon after losing 40 pounds myself and being a dimension four/six the last two years I felt body fat as I walked through the mall with a sea of wholesome, skinny men and women.

If altitude has anything at all to do with it that would describe my one pound bodyweight reduction for the duration of my trip. Truthfully I think it is the frame of mind. They are active individuals, they eat wholesome and they exert lots of energy strolling and taking part in in the high altitudes. Let’s encounter it the place else can an individual determine rather than going to operate they would rather hike Pikes Peak for eight hours to an elevation of above 14,000. This is a story a lady shared with us even though we were in the mall waiting to see Santa. How superb it would be to be capable to do that whenever you needed. The tough actuality is in Texas it’s also scorching to do anything at all outdoors most of the yr. In some of the northern states with their abundance of snow and brutal cold there is not significantly of an chance to do a lot both.

I have to say the mountains and that lifestyle suits me to a T. For the initial time given that reversing my diabetes I could go out to consume with my family members and know wherever we went there would be anything for me to eat. I didn’t have to watch them consume or make them go to a spot I could discover one thing on the menu. I am going to miss that so a lot. The availability to have wholesome, clean food at my disposal close to the clock with no effort on my portion.
So what do you think? Is it altitude or attitude? I will get each!

The state of lean…..Is it altitude or mindset?