乞力馬扎羅山普通登山者激增 健康風險極大
Climbers scaling Mount Kilimanjaro are taking unnecessary risks with their health, experts have warned.
Travel firms have seen an increase in bookings following the successful summit by nine celebrities for last year's Comic Relief campaign.
But Edinburgh University scientists warned many climbing Africa's tallest peak "know little or nothing" about high altitude, which can be fatal.
Scientists camped out to test altitude sickness in more than 200 climbers.
The researchers camped for three weeks on the mountain at a height of 4,730m - not far below the 5,895m summit.
They assessed climbers using the Lake Louise consensus scoring system, which records symptoms such as headache, sickness and fatigue.
The academics found almost half, or 47%, of those who had climbed Kilimanjaro, were suffering from altitude sickness before they reached the summit and most were ascending too high, too quickly.
Signs of sickness include vomiting, headaches, difficulty sleeping and sometimes problems with co-ordination.
Effects can be felt from as low as 2,500m above sea level and 75% of people will have mild symptoms at 3,000m or higher, the study said.
Reserachers said the best way to acclimatise was to climb slowly and some trekkers incorporate acclimatisation rest days.
Some also opt for anti-sickness drugs, although there is controversy in the mountaineering community about whether they are effective.
However, the experts found that neither altitude-sickness drugs nor rest days had a major effect on whether people got ill.
They concluded that climbers were going up so rapidly, the drugs could not protect against the harmful effects of altitude.
It also did not matter which route people took, suggesting "the rate of ascent on any itinerary is sufficiently fast to cause acute mountain sickness in a large proportion of climbers".
However, climbers who had managed to acclimatise beforehand on nearby high mountains were less likely to suffer from sickness, the research said.
Risk dying
Stewart Jackson, who conducted the study, published in the journal High Altitude Medicine and Biology, said: "We found that many climbers knew little or nothing about altitude sickness and did not have previous experience of being at high altitude.
"This research emphasises the need to increase awareness of the risks of altitude sickness and the importance of taking your time to acclimatise.
"Undertaking an acclimatisation trek before attempting to summit Mount Kilimanjaro offers climbers the best chance of a safe, successful summit."
Severe altitude sickness can lead to serious complications, including shortness of breath at rest, inability to walk, decreasing mental alertness and a build up of fluid on the lungs which can result in a "gurgling" sound when breathing.
People with these symptoms must descend the mountain quickly or risk dying.
High altitude cerebral oedema and high altitude pulmonary oedema are rare, but deadly. In both cases, the lack of oxygen results in leakage of fluid into either the lungs or the brain.據英國廣播公司報道，一些專家曾警告稱，乞力馬扎羅山的登山者們對自己的健康承擔着不必要的風險。
旅遊公司發現，自去年九位名人主持的歡喜救濟會（Comic Relief）成功落幕之後，今年乞力馬扎羅山登山項目預訂量迅速增加。
但愛丁堡大學（Edinburgh University）科學家警告稱，許多攀登非洲最高峯的登山者對海拔“所知甚少或一無所知”，這是致命的危險。
許多科學家露營在外，爲200多名登山者測試高原反應。
這些研究人員在山上海拔4730米——距5895米的頂峯不遠之處露營了三週。
他們通過路易斯湖共識評分系統（Lake Louise consensus scoring system，高原病診斷標準）對登山者進行評估，記錄一些高原病症狀，如頭痛、噁心和乏力。
學者發現，近一半或47%的乞力馬扎羅山登山者，在登頂之前會出現高原反應，其中大多數都登的過高或過快。
高原病症狀包括嘔吐、頭痛、失眠，此外，有時伴有協調問題。
研究人員表示，上述症狀最低在海拔2500米處就可有所察覺，75%的人在海拔3000米或更高處會有輕微高原病症狀。
研究人員稱，最好的適應辦法是慢慢爬，有些徒步旅行者會休息數日以適應海拔環境。
還有些人選擇使用抗高原病藥物，儘管其效果在登山界中飽受爭議。
但專家們發現，無論是高原反應藥物還是休息數日，都不是影響人們是否感到不適的主要因素。
他們得出結論稱，登山者攀登速度過快，藥物無法預防海拔高度帶來的有害影響。
他們還表示，登山路線的選擇也是無關緊要的，“無論走哪條路線，大多數登山者都會因攀登速度過快引起急性高原病”。
然而，研究人員稱，若登山者事先在附近的高山曾設法適應海拔環境，那麼引發高原病的可能性較小。
死亡的風險
該項研究負責人斯圖爾特•傑克遜（Stewart Jackson），將研究結果發表在《高原醫學及生物學》雜誌上，稱：“我們發現，許多登山者對高原病所知甚少，並且之前也沒有過高海拔的經驗。
“該研究主要在強調增強高原病風險意識的需要和放寬時間適應海拔的重要性。”
“在登頂前事先進行徒步適應準備，對乞力馬扎羅山登山者安全、成功登頂來說是最可靠的保障。”
劇烈的高原反應會導致嚴重的併發症，包括呼吸短促、無法行走、思維反應速度下降以及肺部體液積聚引起呼吸時“呼呼”的聲音。
出現這些症狀者必須馬上下山，否則或面臨死亡的風險。
高原腦水腫和高原肺水腫都是非常罕見但卻致命的疾病。兩種疾病都是因缺氧導致液體滲漏進入肺部或大腦。
