Altitude Sickness Question

Info on gear, conditioning, and preparation for hiking/climbing.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
HannahBearCO
Posts: 38
Joined: 7/8/2013
14ers: 10 
13ers: 4
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Altitude Sickness Question

Post by HannahBearCO »

:-D
Last edited by HannahBearCO on Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
719BR
Posts: 494
Joined: 7/19/2016
13ers: 8
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Altitude Sickness Question

Post by 719BR »

martinleroux wrote: There have been several studies on Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) and AMS, but with conflicting results. Here are a couple. Peter Hackett was a co-author for both of these.

Leadbetter et al (2009), "Ginkgo biloba does - and does not - prevent acute mountain sickness", http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364166

"Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cohort studies were conducted... Ginkgo biloba reduced the incidence and severity of AMS compared to placebo in the first but not the second study... The primary difference between the 2 studies was the source of GBE... The source and composition of GBE products may determine the effectiveness of GBE for prophylaxis of AMS".

Tissot van Patot et al (2009), "Ginkgo biloba for Prevention of Acute Mountain Sickness: Does It Work?", http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19278351

"We review the current literature regarding the prophylactic use of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) in acute mountain sickness (AMS)... Overall, the literature suggests that due to the complexity of GBE the standardization of the product is inadequate, which likely explains the disparate clinical results. The variability in commercially available GBE products makes it impossible to determine whether GBE is truly effective for preventing or ameliorating AMS".
Here are a couple more recent studies as well:

"Pharmacologic prophylaxis for acute mountain sickness: a systematic shortcut review." (2012) - (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22153998" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

"Antioxidants, magnesium, and G biloba were not efficacious"

"Effect of acetazolamide and gingko biloba on the human pulmonary vascular response to an acute altitude ascent." (2013) - (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23795737" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

"The data show that a low prophylactic dosage of acetazolamide, but not gingko biloba, mitigates the early increase of PASP in a quick ascent profile."

For anyone interested, I have the full text on all four of these studies. PM me directly if you want them.
Post Reply