Editing Altitude sickness (section)

== Treatment ==
The only definite and reliable treatment for severe AMS, HACE, and HAPE is to descend immediately until symptoms resolve.<ref name="JAMAClinicalGuidel">{{Cite journal |last1=Derstine |first1=Mia |last2=Small |first2=Elan |last3=Davis |first3=Andrew M. |date=2024-10-24 |title=Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Acute Altitude Illness |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2825331 |journal=JAMA |volume=332 |issue=19 |pages=1665–1666 |language=en |doi=10.1001/jama.2024.19562 |pmid=39446318 |issn=0098-7484}}</ref>

Attempts to treat or stabilize the patient ''in situ'' (at altitude) are dangerous unless highly controlled and with good medical facilities. However, the following treatments have been used when the patient's location and circumstances permit:
* Oxygen may be used for mild to moderate AMS below {{convert|3700|m|-3}} and is commonly provided by physicians at mountain resorts. Symptoms abate in 12 to 36 hours without the need to descend.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}
* For more serious cases of AMS, or where rapid descent is impractical, a [[Gamow bag]], a portable plastic [[hyperbaric medicine|hyperbaric chamber]] inflated with a foot pump, can be used to reduce the effective altitude by as much as {{convert|1500|m|-3|abbr=on}}. A Gamow bag is generally used only as an aid to evacuate severe AMS patients, not to treat them at altitude.
* [[Acetazolamide]] 250&nbsp;mg twice daily dosing assists in AMS treatment by quickening altitude acclimatization.<ref name="pmid5916650">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cain SM, Dunn JE |title=Low doses of acetazolamide to aid accommodation of men to altitude |journal=[[Journal of Applied Physiology]] |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=1195–200 |date=July 1966 |pmid=5916650 |doi=10.1152/jappl.1966.21.4.1195}}</ref> A study by the Denali Medical Research Project concluded: "In established cases of acute mountain sickness, treatment with acetazolamide relieves symptoms, improves arterial oxygenation, and prevents further impairment of pulmonary gas exchange."<ref name="pmid1739236">{{cite journal |vauthors=Grissom CK, Roach RC, Sarnquist FH, Hackett PH |title=Acetazolamide in the treatment of acute mountain sickness: clinical efficacy and effect on gas exchange |journal=[[Annals of Internal Medicine]] |volume=116 |issue=6 |pages=461–5 |date=March 1992 |pmid=1739236 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-116-6-461|s2cid=1731172 }}</ref>
* The folk remedy for altitude sickness in [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]] and [[Bolivia]] is a tea made from the coca plant. See [[Coca tea|mate de coca]].
* [[Steroids]] can be used to treat the symptoms of pulmonary or cerebral edema, but do not treat the underlying AMS.
* Two studies in 2012 showed that ibuprofen 600 milligrams three times daily was effective at decreasing the severity and incidence of AMS; it was not clear if HAPE or HACE was affected.<ref name="Lipman 2012">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lipman GS, Kanaan NC, Holck PS, Constance BB, Gertsch JH |title=Ibuprofen prevents altitude illness: a randomized controlled trial for prevention of altitude illness with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories |journal=[[Annals of Emergency Medicine]] |volume=59 |issue=6 |pages=484–90 |date=June 2012 |pmid=22440488 |doi=10.1016/j.annemergmed.2012.01.019}}</ref><ref name="Gertsch 2012">{{cite journal |vauthors=Gertsch JH, Corbett B, Holck PS, Mulcahy A, Watts M, Stillwagon NT, Casto AM, Abramson CH, Vaughan CP, Macguire C, Farzan NN, Vo BN, Norvelle RJ, May K, Holly JE, Irons H, Stutz AM, Chapagain P, Yadav S, Pun M, Farrar J, Basnyat B |display-authors=6 |title=Altitude Sickness in Climbers and Efficacy of NSAIDs Trial (ASCENT): randomized, controlled trial of ibuprofen versus placebo for prevention of altitude illness |journal=Wilderness & Environmental Medicine |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=307–15 |date=December 2012 |pmid=23098412 |doi=10.1016/j.wem.2012.08.001 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* Paracetamol (acetaminophen) has also shown to be as good as ibuprofen for altitude sickness when tested on climbers ascending Everest.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Kanaan NC, Peterson AL, Pun M, Holck PS, Starling J, Basyal B, Freeman TF, Gehner JR, Keyes L, Levin DR, O'Leary CJ, Stuart KE, Thapa GB, Tiwari A, Velgersdyk JL, Zafren K, Basnyat B |display-authors=6 |title=Prophylactic Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen Results in Equivalent Acute Mountain Sickness Incidence at High Altitude: A Prospective Randomized Trial |language=en |journal=Wilderness & Environmental Medicine |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=72–78 |date=June 2017 |pmid=28479001 |doi=10.1016/j.wem.2016.12.011 |url=http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(17)30009-1/fulltext |doi-access=free}}</ref>