Doctors

Reading up on acute mountain sickness today. It's a real issue at heights of around 14000ft and above, when the air becomes thinner and harder to breathe. While the oxygen content of the air remains the same, the air itself is under much less pressue and it becomes difficult to draw in enough to supply the body's needs, which are increased due to the exertion of climbing.
Everyone gets AMS of some description, generally just the headache and loss of appetite and this can be treated with Diamox. Diamox has the happy side effect of making you want to urinate every couple of hours, so get rid of the headache so you can sleep and you're woken up by your bodily functions anyway, and crawling out of a sleeping bag into the freezing night air is never much fun. Along with this I am planning to haul a load of throat sweets along with me to combat the 'Khumbu cough', bought on by the harsh air, and the constant companion of the high altitude mountaineer. The cough has been known to be so severe that ribs break, and throats tear, so it's important to be prepared.
AMS shouldn't be underestimated, the effects of altitude can effect even those who have been strong at height before, there is no test for prelediction for it and the signs that show it is moving into the more serious and life threatening stages are not always easy to read, often until treatment becomes an urgent and immediate need.
As less oxygen eneters the blood, the blood thickens by way of producing more red blood cells. The blood can be become like a sludge and find it harder to move around the body. The AMS headache can become a serious emergency as the brain swells in response to the lack of oxygen and cerbeal odema sets in, alternatively, or alongside this, the lungs can fill with fluid in a condition known as pulmonary odema, essentially drowning in your own fluids.
The only cure is to descend fast, to an altitude where the body can respond normally to its environment and improve the oxygen uptake.
We're well prepared with a Gammow bag, essentially a bivibag which the patient climbs inside and which can be sealed and then the internal air pressure is increased to replicate conditions as at a lower altitude, hopefully encouraging a recovery to a state well enough to descend without assistance.
When I was having my jabs in preparation for the trip, I asked the nurse about AMS, and I'm seeing the doctor next week to pick up some Diamox, just in case. Some people take it as a matter of routine as soon as they get high, but not all doctors recommend that.
The nurse's advice? Don't wear aftershave in the jungle beacuse it attracts mosquitos.