Effects of five kilometers walking at 3200 m high altitude on acute mountain sickness / 重庆医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the effect of moderate activities at moderate high altitude on acute mountain sickness (AMS) incidence .Methods Ninety-one healthy sea level residents traveled from sea level (345 m) to high altitude city (3200 m) ,by train within 48-hour .They walked 5 kilometers after 2-night stayed ,Lake Louis Score (LLS) Questionnaires ,blood pressure(BP) and oxygen saturation (SpO2 ) was administered before and after walking .Results Seven subjects were excluded because of incomplete data .The incidence of AMS before and after exercise was 20 .24% (n=17/84) and 11 .90% (n=10/84) respectively(P>0 .05) .Af-ter a 5 kilometer walking ,the heart rate increased from (73 .83 ± 9 .96)bpm to(84 .31 ± 12 .55)bpm (P<0 .05) ,Systolic BP and SpO2 level decreased from(128 .86 ± 13 .93)mm Hg to (124 .48 ± 13 .13)mm Hg ,(92 .80 ± 2 .25)% to (89 .94 ± 2 .45)% (P<0 .05) .Headache symptom improved after walking (P<0 .05) .Smoking was negative correlate with LLS score before and after ex-ercise(P<0 .05) .There is no relation between SpO2 and LLS scores .Conclusion Walking five kilometers at 3200 m improve head-ache symptom and tend to decrease AMS .