Prevention and treatment of acute altitude sickness when first arriving at high altitude.
Scientists say the plateau above 3000 meters above sea level. Because when the altitude reaches this height, its climatic characteristics (such as hypoxia, hypoxia, high radiation and high cold, etc. ) is obviously different from that in the plain. When people come to such an environment, they must go through a series of adjustments before they can adapt. Therefore, people who have just entered the plateau, even those who live in the plateau, should guard against the occurrence of acute altitude sickness from many aspects when they return to the plateau from the plain.
First of all, people with the following diseases should not enter the plateau
If you have never been to the plateau, you must have a strict physical examination before entering the plateau. If you find obvious lesions in your heart, lungs, brain, liver and kidney, or patients with severe anemia and hypertension, please don't blindly enter the plateau. If it is just a general disease, you must take necessary preventive measures in advance, such as carrying oxygen with you.
Second, after arriving at the plateau, matters needing attention
Just arrived at the plateau, everyone will feel chest tightness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and other symptoms of hypoxia to varying degrees. But that doesn't mean you can't adapt to the plateau. If you can protect yourself correctly, the above symptoms can generally be improved or disappeared after 5-7 days.
People often advocate oxygen inhalation to relieve discomfort. Of course, oxygen inhalation can temporarily relieve chest tightness, shortness of breath, dyspnea and other symptoms, but after stopping oxygen inhalation, the symptoms will reappear. This has delayed the time to adapt to the plateau. We advocate that if the above symptoms are not serious, especially during rest, it is best not to take oxygen. This will enable you to adapt to the plateau environment quickly.
Just entering the plateau, don't overeat, so as not to increase the burden on the digestive organs and make them adapt to this environment well. It's best not to drink or smoke. Eat more vitamin-rich substances such as vegetables and fruits.
However, it must also be noted that if the above symptoms become more and more serious after entering the plateau, especially during rest, you should immediately take oxygen and go to the hospital for treatment. Prevent the adverse consequences caused by "acute high altitude pulmonary edema".
When you first arrive at the plateau, you should not walk fast, let alone run or do manual labor. After a week's rest, you can gradually increase a certain amount of labor. This is the theoretical basis for returning to the plateau from the plain and going to work after a week's rest.
When you first arrive at the plateau, you should prevent colds caused by catching cold. Cold is one of the main causes of acute high altitude pulmonary edema.
Brown sugar can prevent mountain reaction.
Researchers at the Tajik Institute of Alpine Medicine in the former Soviet Union found that brown sugar has an excellent effect on preventing mountain reactions. People who enter the area above 3600 meters can basically avoid mountain sickness by taking 30 grams of brown sugar every day, while those who do not take brown sugar or refined white sugar have a higher incidence of mountain sickness. Researchers believe that there may be more active substances in brown sugar, which enhances the human body's ability to resist mountain sickness.
Relationship between plateau metabolism and water
When I first arrive at the plateau, I often hear such advice: drink more plateau water. Does that make sense? So, let's start with the influence of humidity on human body.
Humidity decreases with the elevation. According to the statistics of scientists, when the height reaches 2000 meters, the absolute humidity is reduced by half compared with the sea level; When it reaches the height of 4000 meters, it is less than a quarter of the absolute humidity at sea level; At the height of 6500 meters, it is only one tenth.
Generally speaking, low humidity is more beneficial to the body than high humidity. Because the low humidity environment is beneficial to the distribution of human body temperature. Moreover, if the humidity is high, that is, there is a lot of water vapor in the air, it will hinder the emission of human body temperature, and it will also give people a dull feeling, which is not as good as drier air. The most favorable relative humidity for human body temperature dissipation is 30%-60%. The relative humidity at 2400 meters above sea level is about 2O %；; The relative humidity at the height of 3200m is about15%; The relative humidity at 400 meters is 10%.
The air trapped in the plateau is too dry, which easily leads to dry mouth, dry nostrils and oral mucosa, and chapped lips. From this point of view, it is beneficial to drink more water on the plateau. Drinking more water can promote the metabolism of human body, so that impurities produced in the process of metabolism can be easily excreted with urethra.
In addition, due to the strong radiation and reflection of sunlight on the plateau, especially due to the strengthening of human breathing, water is continuously exhaled from the lungs, which makes the loss of water more than that on the plain. This is also one reason why you should drink more water on the plateau.
Excessive drinking water is harmful to your health.
However, if you drink too much water, it will increase the burden on your heart, and even make people sweat a lot, leading to failure. This is not good for your health.
In fact, even in the case of water shortage, the body can compensate well. Under the regulation of central nervous system, renal blood flow can be reduced. The filtration rate of the kidney is reduced, so the water discharged from the urine is reduced. At the same time, it can increase the leakage rate of plasma to supplement the deficiency of tissue fluid. Of course, these reactions of the body must be effective when the body is warm. If it's cold, try to increase it.
Although plateau is easy to cause negative balance of human water, it is not all harmful. The decrease of whole body water can reduce the pressure of cerebrospinal fluid and reduce the chance of brain edema at high altitude. In this way, for people who first enter the plateau or enter a higher altitude from the plateau, the advantages of a slight negative water balance outweigh the disadvantages and will not cause greater harm to the body. After staying for a few days, under good living conditions, the normal balance of water was restored in a short time.
The correct way to drink water
On the plateau, you can't drink without water or drink too much. So, how to drink water is good for your health?
The correct way to drink water should be: after breakfast, drink tea water until you are completely satisfied; 2-3 hours after work, you can sip 200-300 ml of water, and each bite should be held in your mouth for a few seconds before swallowing; No matter when you are working or exercising, you can only drink enough water after a long rest. If you sweat a lot, you should add 2 grams of salt to the water. Drink plenty of water when working and living in the plateau for a long time.
How to bask in the sun when you first enter the plateau
How to bask in the sun on the plateau is very particular, especially for comrades who come to the plateau from the mainland.
Sunlight has many effects on human body, which can reduce blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, promote the oxygen absorption capacity and metabolism of human cells, relax muscles, promote blood circulation and improve health. However, ultraviolet rays in the sun will harm people's skin, weaken the skin's resistance, and make the skin elastic and aging. What's more, if ultraviolet rays penetrate the epidermis, it will destroy the genetic structure of skin cells and make people suffer from skin cancer. According to statistics, the proportion of people who are overexposed to ultraviolet rays suffering from skin cancer is quite high.
For every 300 meters above sea level, the intensity of ultraviolet rays will increase by 5%. Human skin has a natural ability to resist ultraviolet rays. Under strong sunlight, epidermal keratinocytes will proliferate rapidly, and the skin will thicken and harden, blocking ultraviolet rays. This melanin can absorb most ultraviolet rays. If you are exposed to too much sunlight, the skin that has lost its strength will fall off and grow new skin with defensive ability.
The skin's resistance to ultraviolet rays is gradually increasing. Comrades who have been engaged in indoor work for a long time in the mainland need a gradual adaptation process to adapt their skin to the sun. Generally speaking, around sunrise and sunset. The sun is oblique near the horizon, the sunlight is blocked by the thick atmosphere, and the ultraviolet radiation is greatly weakened. At this time, gradually exposing the skin to the sun can gradually increase the resistance to ultraviolet rays.
When working in the field, you can prepare sunshade products. It is worth mentioning that although ultraviolet rays are invisible to the naked eye, they can also be reflected and scattered like light, so they can also be emitted indoors without direct sunlight, and they should be covered with dark curtains in midsummer.