There are three categories of AMS: Mild AMS: Symptoms, such as mild headache and fatigue, don’t interfere with your normal activity. Causes, incidence, and risk factors. Symptoms can range from mild to life-threatening, and can affect the nervous system, lungs, muscles, and heart. Altitude sickness, sometimes called mountain sickness or high-altitude sickness, is a disorder that affects people who spend time at high altitudes without first becoming accustomed to the high-altitude environment. Acute Mountain Sickness is a serious issue. At higher altitudes, the decreased partial pressure of oxygen can cause several pathological presentations, including high altitude pulmonary edema, high altitude cerebral edema, and the more mild, but much more common acute mountain sickness (also referred to as altitude illness or altitude sickness). However, this sickness can also become severe, causing difficulty breathing and other conditions. At nonextreme altitudes (<5500 m), 10-85% of these individuals are affected by acute mountain sickness, the most common disease induced by mild-moderate hypobaric hypoxia. This can happen to any one regardless of your age, gender or fitness level. Altitude sickness is known for its different names such as Acosta disease, Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), Soroche, hypobaropathy or puna. Check the full list of possible causes and conditions now! Altitude sickness (also called mountain sickness) is an illness due to the decreasing amount of oxygen at high altitudes from about 4800 feet (1500 m) that may range from mild to even fatal at higher altitudes. Many symptoms of this condition are mild and can be cured quickly. What causes altitude sickness? Symptoms may include headaches, vomiting, tiredness, trouble sleeping, and dizziness. 1 doctor agrees. Mild AMS. What is Altitude Sickness (Acute Mountain Sickness)? Altitude sickness is a potentially lethal complication of climbing to altitudes above 8,000 feet. Acute Mountain Sickness. Your age, sex or physical fitness do not affect your likelihood of getting altitude sickness. Acute Mountain Sickness & High-Altitude Disorder & Sjogren's Syndrome Symptom Checker: Possible causes include Holmes-Adie Syndrome. But when acute mountain sickness affects up to half of those who ascend beyond 4500m, it’s something we really don’t know as much about as we would like. Acute mountain sickness is due to a combination of reduced air pressure and lower oxygen levels at high altitudes. Acute mountain sickness usually causes symptoms at least 8 to 36 hours after ascent. According to Dr. Peter Hackett of the Institute for Altitude Medicine, AMS can affect anyone above 6,000ft. This causes the headache and other symptoms of altitude sickness. Exertion also adds up to the woes. As you gain height with higher altitudes, the oxygen levels and air pressure decreases. Air pressure at higher elevations is lower than at sea level, and at high altitudes oxygen molecules exist in lower concentrations. Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the negative health effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. Deprivation of oxygen comes about when you rapidly ascend towards the top of the mountain. It is your body’s way of telling you that it is not able to adapt to the lesser oxygen it is getting. Causes Acute mountain sickness is brought on by the combination of reduced air pressure and lower oxygen concentration that occur at high altitudes. Acute mountain sickness: Related Medical Conditions. Depending on the altitude gained and speed of ascent, incidence of AMS ranges from 20% to 80%. What are the symptoms? 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